Pandemonium
by Arian Eripmav
Summary: Chaos, the creator of the universe has proclaimed himself the only God and is planning to wage war on the heavens. Hestia, Goddess of Sacred Fire and the new queen of the heavens isn't willing to go down without a battle, her demigod armies being led by Nico Angelo.What will happen when two destructive forces wage war on each other? Will Humanity survive?
1. A Tryst with Destiny

**DISCLAIMER**: I don't own PERCY JACKSON AND THE i do own the plot.

**A/N:**This story is a sequel to FIRE IN THE VOID. It is your choice if you wish to read the prequel or not. I personally believe that this story can be read with out reading the first in the series. Nevertheless if you read it, Pandemonium WILL BE EASIER to follow and more fun.

**Enjoy Reading and Review.**

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**A Tryst with Death**

There are many who speak of death in the manner of a glorious afterlife however a blessed afterlife is written in the destiny of only a handful of mortals. The others sadly, have to spend a lifetime in the fields of asphodel or in the fields of punishment for atonement of their wrong-doings. The underworld is not a happy place. Death isn't meant to be celebrated, it is meant to be grieved and then forgotten. What is death? It is the transference of immortal energy from one living vessel to another but only after the memories of the previous life is forgotten. Washed in the waters of Lethe, every soul rises anew. The fates writing their destiny, as it should be.

I sighed, gathered around me were those with who I had served with earlier in battles. They were my fellow councillors, comrades and friends. I looked to Percy, who stood right be. Confident, his sea green eyes gleamed with excitement. I turned my gaze away from his to look at the others. Annabeth was inspecting her weapons while Thalia fastened her bracelet which when tapped released the shield, Aegis.

They scared me, the both of them. Battle hardened, they were always prepared for a fight but then that's how Greeks were. They fought on an impulse. It was their very basic nature. We, the Romans on the other hand took strategy and skill into account. Even on the battle field we used our brains along with our brawn. More disciplined, we believed in organized was not in random mêlées.

My eyes found Jason who stood beside Piper, Leo and Frank engaging in a silent conversation. There was no doubt that they were going through their plans again. On my other side stood Clarisse La Rue and Chris Rodriguez, they too had a strategy up their sleeves. Knowing them and their parents, I was pretty sure that it'd be damn good.

"Are you ready Hazel?" Percy asked, sounding oddly cheerful. He hadn't been in a battle for years and now seemed to be itching to get his hands dirty. Annabeth scorned at him from behind but she restrained herself from jabbing him in the gut with the hilt of her dagger.

I breathed deeply and after saying a silent prayer to my father, I looked at him, mirroring his enthusiasm, "Ready when you are?" I said.

"Fine then, everyone come and gather around Hazel." He said looking at each and every demigod around us. All of them nodded and cut short their conversations, sheathing their weapons and double checking everything they came and stood around me in a circle.

We were all supposed to travel to the shadow realm. According to Nico and Alec's last reports they had both felt a strong disturbance in the shadow region. Even her father had felt a powerful presence but had decided against investigating it. Deducing, that's where they may find their mysterious demigod killer the Councillors had decided to explore the shadow region and the only way to get there was shadow travel.

Hazel closed her eyes and breathed deeply, shadow traveling was relatively easier for her and in the last few years she had taken several people along with her. However, she had never taken a group as large as this one. It had always been maximum two to three people but I knew that I could take more people. After all, Nico was known to take entire cohorts with him on diplomatic missions to the existing empires. He believed that the organised cohorts created a lasting impression.

But that was him, and this was me and I knew I could pull it off and with that last thought I let the cool wind take over me.

As the shadows engulfed me into the nothingness of their void I felt the cold shivers running down my spine with the sensation of my life force being drained drop by drop from my body. As I whirled on the spot I could sense the presence of all those around me, It felt as if I was their sun and they the planets revolving around me. I could individually sense each and every one of them, their cores shining bright but the radiance of each was different, varying in terms of power and strength.

Swirling in the shadows I could feel the different dimensions I passed through. Every dimension had a different touch to it and there were six of them between the mortal world and Tartarus. With the underworld lying somewhere in the middle I instantly knew when I crossed it. It was the only dimension where I felt comfortable in. It also warned me to increase my defenses as I proceeded to the next dimension, that of Erebus, God of Darkness and Shadows. It wasn't that Erebus didn't allow demigods to enter his domain, no quite the contrary he enjoyed our presence however the creatures that he kept as pets didn't and would randomly attack at any moment.

I drew on the cores of the others to strengthen my shields. Had I been passing alone I wouldn't have had to as a single demigod goes virtually un-noticed. A group of them was a completely different matter, we probably shined like a beacon of light inviting them to come and get their meal. Drawing on their strengths, I not only increased our shields but also the speed with which we were passing through.

The passage through Erebus went safely enough, with no attacks but I felt a few creatures glide right past us, creatures that could gobble us up without even being affected by our defenses. I was glad when I reached the thin border that separated it from the shadow realm.

I passed through the thin plane that separated the shadow realm from Erebus, but what I was encountered by I was not prepared for. A sudden flash of light blinded me followed by a high pitched scream that caused a severe pain in my head. So sharp was the pain that I lost complete control over my body and my power. The shadows around me dissipated and I fell into well of harsh blinding light with a scream echoing in my ears. I knew they were mine because I could feel my throat going hoarse from screaming.

I don't know how I passed out, whether it was due to the sheer intensity of the Shadow realm, the screaming or the drain from shadow traveling. All I knew was I could no longer keep awake and so my eyes rolled into my head and I didn't even realise that I had lost consciousness.

I could feel my heart pounding at a pace that I knew would cause any mortal a heart attack. With a dull ache in the back of my head, I could still hear the echo of screams in my head. The screams however sounded more like shouts and loud grunts. I tried to open my eyes, but couldn't, it seemed that the blinding light had affected my vision and the fall on the head had probably not helped.

The grunts and shouts however started to get louder as if the battle was coming to me or maybe it was because I was coming to my senses quickly. Unable to open my eyes, I tried to move my arms both of which were working. I quickly moved my hands to my sides; their strapped on my thigh was a dagger which I slowly pulled out from its invisible sheath. My other hand closed on the hilt of my sword.

I felt my core, there wasn't much left in it. I need to recuperate and it didn't seem that I had been unconscious for long. Drawing on my powers, I tried to heal the damage done to my eyes. A cool wave spread throughout my body, my eyes that till now had been burning instantly cooled. I knew I could open them now.

With my eyes healed and energy running through my veins I knew I had to be agile. I couldn't take my time to get to my feet. It all had to be done in one swift move. Drawing on all my strength I kept both my hands palm down on the surface and raised my legs. Applying strength through my hands, I jumped up on to the ground, coming on to stand in a crouching position. Not wasting even a single moment I jumped off the ground, opening my eyes to see the battle going around me. High in the air, my eyes widened with shock at what I saw.

Around me, on the ground each and every councillor was fighting for their life trying to protect themselves against what seemed to be a never ending army of Spartans robed in black and gold armour. Slashing through the enemy and cutting through their shields the group of ten demigods tried to hold their line of defence. A circle, which they seemed to have formed around me, to protect me but so involved were they in their battle that they hadn't even realised that I was up on my feet. It also explained my thoughts of the battle coming to me because in fact it was coming to me.

High up in the air I hovered above the battleground, quiet and silent I observed the enemy warriors. It seemed that they had taken no notice of me even those who were standing behind and weren't directly fighting. It was almost as they were ignoring me. I decided to take advantage of the situation but how could I, I was still weak. I couldn't fight.

There was no way that I could prove to be of any help to my comrades. I looked at all of them individually. They were all fighting with their weapons and those who had lost theirs were fighting with bare hands, Clarisse for example. Having lost her spear, mace, sword and shield; she charged at the warriors, punching through the shield of one of the Spartan warrior that came her way, she broke through his shield she then used her brute strength to grasp his arm and throw him at the other warriors. Snatching a fallen sword, she bared her teeth at the advancing warriors and growling like a lioness she charged into them ploughing her way through, slashing and hacking. Typical Clarisse, it was good that Chris had her back. He stuck to her like a shadow, bringing death to those who were left behind.

It wasn't long before they disappeared in the sea of Spartans; I had completely lost sight of them. My attention however was gained by a blood curdling shriek of defiance.

Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus fought the oncoming warriors with a sword in each hand. In her right hand she held a double-edged celestial bronze sword while in her left she held a piercing, single edged imperial-gold pike sword. It was similar to the sword Jas… my heart skipped a beat. I frantically looked all around me but I couldn't see him. I searched for Piper instead, knowing that he'd be fighting right beside the daughter of Aphrodite but when my gaze found her it wasn't so.

Piper was surrounded on all sides by the enemy and she fought with them two-three at a time barely keeping up with their onslaughts and attacks. She tried her best; the determination on her face was one that I had never seen before but there was something else there as well, fear. The fear in her eyes was paramount but she wasn't giving in. She wouldn't break so easily… but there was nothing that I could do, except for one thing.

I inhaled sharply and closed my arms. With all my strength, I concentrated on my core. I concentrated upon the energy that was whirling in it, like a dark cloud of energy. I let that energy flow through me. I let it rejuvenate each and every cell in my body, making them vibrate with pure divine ichor. Long ago, I had put a stopper on my core. I didn't want to succumb to my power. No, I was happy with the amount of power I had. But it seemed that desperate times called for desperate actions to take place. Broadening my senses, I tapped into the energy core that sustained the shadow region. If there was any way that I could help my comrades it was by tapping into this source of pure, manic, ultimate dark energy.

I felt the shadow core pulse with destructive energy and for a moment I hesitated but then came to my mind the frightened faces of my comrades who were staring death in their face. Yes, I'd do it for them and before it was too late I tapped into the vast and never ending reservoir of energy.

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**Percy's POV **

The warriors marched towards us in prefect co-ordination. With their swords drawn and shields raised they marched to kill or be killed.

It hadn't been long since I got on my own two feet. Last I remember I was swirling in a cloud of dark shadows and then suddenly I had been flung out of the cloud, like an invisible force had yanked at me. Before I knew it, I along with the others was diving towards the ground with the world spinning around us. We were very much conscious when we were falling but we lost it sometime after the blinding flash of light and the freaky sound that continued to echo through our heads.

When we woke up, it didn't seem that we had been unconscious for very long. Rather, when I got up the light had only just begun to dissipate. Using my sword as support, I got up on my own two feet and helped Annabeth do the same. All around us the other demigods were getting up, all except for Hazel who was still lying on the ground unconscious. It seemed that she had been drained of all her strength, trying to ferry us across five dimensions.

With one glance at Annabeth I made my way to her while Annabeth called for everyone to build a defensive parameter. There was something that she had observed which we hadn't and she shouted at us to get in line and form a circular line around Hazel, as she was our ticket home.

Obeying her command, I got up from beside Hazel and joined her. I looked at her with irritation, questioning her antics. She on the other hand just pointed forwards with her dagger. Shrugging, I followed her sword's line of sight and that's when I saw them coming.

Legions upon legion of men marched towards us. They were garbed in Greek Armour resembling those of Golden-age Spartans. Now I knew what all the hue and cry was about. All around me I heard the familiar sounds of weapons being drawn from their sheaths and bracers transforming into shields and other weapons.

I pulled out riptide and felt an instant tug in my gut. We had to fight this one out, no questions asked even if it was the last thing that we did. Pulling the helmet over my face, my vision was restricted to the warriors charging right at me and with that last thought I raised my shield to block a direct thrust at my hard. Throwing the attack back my assailant, I swung my sword and cut through his neck. Whirling on the spot, I used my momentum to swing and cut through two other warriors who had tried to sneak upon me from behind. The swing however left me open on the left, exposing my left leg to attack. However, none of the other warriors seemed to be bright enough to use it against me and thus allowing me to regain my footing and continue to defend myself and slash through those who raised their swords to kill me.

I slashed widely, never remaining at the same spot for more than once. I used my agility to its maximum potential. To anyone else it'd seem as if I was morphing from one place to another but the truth was that I was running and jumping at lightning speeds, this was something that I had learnt from Jason. Jason, the image of the son of Jupiter came to my mind. How different he was from his father?

Lost in thought, I barely noticed when a sword scraped across my helmet. Had it been even an inch closer, it'd have run right through my head. I cursed loudly, parrying away the enemy's thrust with my own sword and then throwing him back with the help of my shield.

I looked around to see plenty of bodies lying piled up atop each other around me. The warriors now seemed hesitant to attack me, but attack they did. It seemed that they were trying to strategize their next move while I cut through their cannon fodder. Which I unfortunately had to, I had no choice. I would hate to admit it, but this was worse than fighting Kronos or Gaea and I was already tiring, physically of course. I needed time to recuperate. It was now time to release my divine self upon these warriors and without wasting a moment, I pulled out a couple of dead shells from my utility belt and threw them all round me. With the warriors advancing, I closed my eyes and felt the familiar sensation of the tug in my gut. Before I knew it, the sea shells had given rise to several salt water springs.

With a smirk on my face, I extended my arm and the water from the springs shot up towards the sky, forming a wall of water around me and with an another wave of my hands the water shout outwards drowning the advancing warriors in an immense tidal wave.

That did it; I had been able to steal a few moments of rest. I took the time to observe the battle area. Annabeth was still beside me, slashing through her assailants like a maniac. Leo on the other hand used pyro kinesis to burn his attackers to cinder. Jake was doing the same; however he occasionally using his mace to blow the skulls and thoraxes of the warriors attacking him, spraying him with blood.

Clarisse and Chris were nowhere to be seen but I could hear Clarisse shout from behind a wall of enemy warriors and it sounded she was doing fine, still fighting that is. What was peculiar was Thalia fighting with two swords, one of which belonged to… Jason. I could feel Thalia's agony as she hacked and scythed through each person, her viciousness directly proportional to her agony at the loss of her brother. Piper too was hidden from my eyes; I'd have to find her.

My eyes then turned to the ground where Hazel was laying a few minutes back, strangely enough she wasn't there, probably joined the fight. I had only begun to wonder where she was when I heard a blade being swung behind me. Out of instinct I spun on the spot, meeting my enemy's blade with mine. I then thrust my dagger in his heart, where it stayed while I dealt with the other warriors. My Time-out seemed to have finished although I still hadn't recovered as yet. I was tiring, and fast.

When Grover told me that demigods are strongest in their teenage years he wasn't kidding. I now realise that he was talking about endurance and not strength. Nevertheless, demigods can draw on their divine core that helps them to fight even though they are out of strength. That's one reason we are called demigods, because like gods we don't run out of strength.

It seemed that the warriors were all amateurs. They relied on brute strength and didn't seem to know anything about fighting with weapons. When it came to using their sword, all they knew was swing their sword, put up their shield to block an attack and on occasion, use their sword to parry an attack. Although it made the battle easy for us, it seemed as if they were learning while they fought. I found the idea quite absurd as I ran my mind over it again but what I couldn't deny was the fact that they were getting better. Each warrior that I faced seemed to take an extra strike or two before I cut through him. I wanted to rest, to take a moment to breathe but it didn't seem I'd be able to for a while.

Parrying an attack and raising my shield to defend myself against another, I fleeting realised that I had left myself completely open. An opportunity the warriors didn't miss this time, as a third warrior thrust his sword into my abdomen. I bit my lip to stop myself from screaming aloud. There were two things that were going on in my mind, the pain in my abdomen and the thought that I wasn't going to die so easily. Swinging my sword, I un-balanced the person who had my sword in a lock and used my shield to shove the other warrior. His footing lost, I plunged riptide through his heart and drew it in one swift motion.

I then used my sword to break my assailant's sword which was still nestled in my stomach. Catching him off-guard, I used the moment of surprise and cut across his neck, killing him. With more armoured Spartans coming my way, I didn't waste time and pulled the blade still lunged in my stomach. I drew it out carefully to prevent injury to any of my other organs. Who the hell was I kidding? Of course I was going to die and there was shit that I could do about it. Blood was running through my wound like water through a tap. From what I could make out my intestines had been severed through, possibly a kidney as well and I was pretty sure that the sword had grazed my spine as well. All in all, unless I got a healer to help me out and pour potions down my gullet I was going to end up dead. The one thing I could do was stand my ground but before that I looked for Annabeth. I couldn't see her anymore but I could sense her aura, the grey aura of a warrior designed to kill. It was true, compassion wasn't in her veins.

Smiling, I returned my attention to the line of warriors closing in on me. With one last thought, negating the presence of pain from my mind I raised my shield to cover my body and held riptide tight.

I was losing faith, and quickly. If there was something I knew for sure, it was that I was headed to Elysium and with that thought, as the warriors charged at me with their swords held high. My eyes closed involuntarily and I felt myself on the dirt ground that I had fallen on before, my senses betraying me and the battle cries lulling me into a dreamless sleep.

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**Annabeth's POV**

Like wind I ran through the formation of the warriors. Unlike the others I didn't wait for my enemy to being the battle to me. I took the battle to the enemy. Not how a typical child of Athena should act, I however plead guilty of the fact that Percy has had a lot of influence over me. Nevertheless, strategy was still my forte and even if I was running through enemy ranks, I didn't do so while I stayed in their view. Long ago I had traded my cap of invisibility for a cape which could render its wearer completely invisible.

Swift and silent, I ran through the enemy lines, slitting a throat here, disembowelling there. It wasn't what I professed at but it was something I was surely getting better. It was while I masqueraded among the enemy that I felt Percy's presence disappearing. Not sure, what to make out of it I left everything else and ran to the place where I last saw him.

It was then that I realised what a great mistake I had made. I was wedged so deep within the enemy ranks that I was having trouble finding my way out. If I wasn't careful enough, I'd set off a complete panic attack among them but at the same time I had to hurry. I had to get to Percy to see if he was fine. Not thinking upon the consequences if what I was about to do, I summoned power from my divine core to teleport myself to Percy's side.

Teleportation was extremely dangerous for demigods, reason being that a demigod had to temporarily empty his reservoirs of power to produce enough energy to take the form of light and then travel to the destination. Using so much power could end up killing the demigod, especially if teleportation used during a battle but there was no time to waste on pros and cons. There wouldn't be a reason to live with Percy anyways.

Willing all her strength and power to each and every cell of her body, Annabeth could feel the heat building up. Burning her from within, Annabeth screamed as the fire completely took over her and she was blinded by a sudden burst of light. After a moment however she found herself on the hard stone floor, drained of life but her resolve was still strong. She opened her eyes, her vision still blurred by the after effects of the blinding flash but somehow, she knew he was there. Next to her, and her vision improved she could feel him around her. Black hair, luminous silver armour, tanned skin; she could sense and feel it all but as her vision cleared, tears started streaming down her eyes. Her stormy grey eyes met his sea green. Eyes that were once aflame with joy and excitement now stared back at her, dead.

She tried to move her hand to touch him one last time, too late she felt a sharp pain on the back of her head and before she could do anything else she too slipped into unconsciousness…

_And so did all the other demigods. Leo and Jake although fighting bravely were finally overwhelmed by the sheer number of the on-coming warriors. Thalia too had been unable to defend herself against multiple attacks and fell to a sword that cut through her back. Piper McLean, although scared fought the longest but she too fell to the ground due to exhaustion. It wasn't much after that Clarisse and Chris fell as well, Chris trying to protect Clarisse from a wayward sword. He took the attack to save her but there was only one sword that he could take on her behalf, as another quickly claimed her life to. _

_Hazel however didn't see her friends die. She knew what she had to do. With enough strength restored she shadow travelled back to Fort Olympus, they needed help and hopefully there would be enough cohorts and shadow travellers to bring an army down here to help the councillors… and with the sound of a gunshot she ricocheted across the seven dimensions all the way to the City of Demigods, Fort Olympus._

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**A/N:**First chapter of Pandemonium. Very excited about the feedback. I know that some of you still prefer the canon characters but at the moment there is only space for a few of them. It seems as if war has been declared._  
_

On another note, every Author and I'm speaking on behalf of _every author on fanfiction appreciates feedbacks and review_. Even if they are flames, they know that people are reading their story and at the end of the day it helps them improve.

So, do all of us an honour and don't forget to_ press the Highlighted REVIEW BUTTON_**.** There is a reason why it has been highlighted now. :)


	2. The Missing Demigods

**DISCLAIMER**: I don't own PERCY JACKSON AND THE i do own the plot.

**A/N:**This story is a sequel to FIRE IN THE VOID. It is your choice if you wish to read the prequel or not. I personally believe that this story can be read with out reading the first in the series. Nevertheless if you read it, Pandemonium WILL BE EASIER to follow and more fun.

**Enjoy Reading and Review.**

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**The Missing Demigods  
**

Noah Ellis, Second-in-Command of The Masked Messiah walked across the front courtyard of Fort Olympus. It was two 'o' clock in the morning and he had to relieve Mikaela Sapientia the Quarter Guard of the cohort from her duty on the watch tower. Along with him marched two other fledgling warriors who had joined the cohort only six months back.

They quickly made their way across the front court yard to avoid the early morning chill that usually set in early during the fall. Although they were well armoured, the armour didn't block viruses and bacteria from affecting their health and causing diseases but being demigods they weren't worried about that either. Demigods didn't catch diseases. No, what they were worried about was making to the tower on time and relieving their comrades. That was a sign of a well organised and functional cohort.

They trio of soldiers soon made their way across the courtyard and came to the watch tower. The guards stood in attention and saluted to the Second in command of their cohort and didn't return to ease until they head his light footsteps on the stairs.

Noah on the other hand quickened his pace, his comrades finding it difficult to keep up with him. It wasn't long before he scaled all four flights and reached the observation deck at the top of the watch tower. There stood Mikaela, the cohort's quarter guard. She was standing on the edge of the deck, scanning the forests around the fort with auranoculars. An auranocular was a device similar to that of a binocular however it had several additional functions. It not only helped zoom in on far off things but also supported additional capabilities such as thermal, infrared, wave energy. It could also be used to separate people of various auras. One could easily differentiate between a monster, a nature spirit and a demigod.

She stood their oblivious of my arrival and continued working on her shift. The other three guards on the deck however immediately came to attention and saluted at my arrival. The shuffling and stomping of feet by the other guards informed Mikaela of my presence, who turned to greet me with a rare smile across her face.

Her hazel brown eyes, shining a dull gold in the light from the surrounding oil lamps, "And I thought you weren't coming." She said, the smile playing on her lips and the light from the oil lamps dancing in her eyes.

She brought a smile to his face, like she always did, "Couldn't leave you out here any longer. Astria would have skewered me alive." He said, mocking fright. They both knew that Astria would wave it off and hand over the successive night's guard duty to Noah. Astria was a good commander. She never screamed or shouted. She just passed honest judgement and orders, that's why she was respected.

"Touché, I guess I'll see you in the morning then." Mikaela said, sheathing her sword and stowing her auranoculars on her utility belt.

The guards who had been on guard duty with her vacated their positions and filed out down the deck only to be replaced by the demigods who had come along with Noah. Seeing her guards file out, Mikaela too made a move and walk past Noah allowing him to take her spot but not before placing a quick kiss on his cheek.

Before Noah even realised what had happened she was climbing down the stairs, making her way to the barracks.

A slight smile came to Noah's lips. He didn't think much over it. Mikaela could be flirtatious at times. Over the years she had come out of her shell. He still remembered the shy, soft-spoken and idealistic Mikaela though. Sometimes he wished she hadn't changed. She'd have been easy to court then.

Noah soon started to lose himself within his dreams. Quite some time had passed by when he came back to his senses; a sharp cold wind slapped him back to reality. Putting his head into full battle mode, he drew his sword and heard the other guards on the tower draw swords as well.

"Did you all hear that? Raul, did you?" He asked, urgency lining his voice while he scanned the foliage across the wall.

Antara Raul was an Indian demigod and a roman daughter of Nemesis. Antara was one of the senior most demigods in the guard nodded in agreement, "Felt as if the wind slapped me across the face." She said, her sword drawn and her eyes scanning the midnight sky.

"Blow the guard horn and light the warning torches. It is better to be safe than sorry." He said, while he pulled out his own pair of auranoculars from his utility belt to scan the forest.

As soon as he passed the orders, one of the soldiers blew the guard horn bringing to attention all active guards and sentinels. The horn would also inform demigods who were still awake of impending trouble. The torches were used for the same purpose, any demigod who failed to hear the horn would be notified by the lit torches.

"Activate primary defences, raise the shields." Noah said while continuing to scan the forest along with Antara.

"There's nothing out there in the forest." Antara said worrisome.

"There has to be something. That wind we felt was the after effect of shadow travelling. Didn't you feel the aura?" Noah barked at his junior officer, losing his sense of cool and composure. If they couldn't find anything from here then they'd have to go on foot.

"Raul." He called out to the Indian demigod.

"Sir." came the crisp reply.

"Have you received any word from the patrol teams?" He asked.

"None so far but they are out there looking." She said. She didn't have to be asked twice.

"Go down and ask the seven standbys to don their armour. We are going out to hunt." The seriousness in his voice told Antara not to question his orders.

Without asking a single question she ran down the flight of steps leaving the surveillance of the tree tops to the guard commander and one other.

Meanwhile, Noah changed the sensitivity of his auranoculars to shadow and dark matter. Confirming the settings he put the auranocs back on his eyes. It wasn't long before he found something. Five Clicks from the Fort walls was a giant source of shadow energy, pulsing and radiating with power. Noah continued to monitor it but it remained unmoving, it however continued to pulse with power.

"Darian, come here and take my position." Noah said to the only other guard on the observation deck and without wasting a moment, the son of Trivia walked over to stand parallel with his second in command with his own pair of auranocs in hand.

"Switch your auranocs sensitivity to shadow and dark matter and turn 57.5 degrees east." Noah said, while continuing to observe the pulsing body himself as well.

It took the young soldier a moment or two but he quickly found what his commander might have been hinting at.

Noah didn't wait for a confirmation from Darian if he had found the object or not. Noah stowed and ran down from the observation deck when he felt Darian flinch, that was enough indication that he had found what he had been asked to look for.

As Noah ran down the stairs of the guard tower he shouted to Darian to keep giving him updates regarding the position of the pulsing shadow energy.

As soon as he reached the base of the guard tower he saw Antara debriefing the assembled warriors, speaking faster than anyone could comprehend but the warriors still nodded their heads. Picking up words from her shooting sentences to makes sense of what she was saying.

Noah didn't pay much attention to her nor did he bother to correct her. Antara was a good strategist. He was confident in her capability and strength. She'd make a good leader one day. Not to mention she was in the running to head a new cohort being formed in New Byzantium, the first half-blood camp in Asia. If the Sentinel Council approved Astria's petition to nominate Antara for the post of commander then she'd be leaving pretty soon. If not, then she'd be taking either his place or Mikaela's in their cohort as one of them would be detailed as a liaison officer to New Byzantium.

He shuddered at the thought of leaving Masked Messiah. He had given three years of his life to this cohort and had grown rather close to each and every member of the cohort. He thought of them as his family and really cared about the fledgling warriors in the cohort.

"What's the POA Antara?" he asked, putting on his helmet and strapping on his back plate.

"We are ten in number Sir. I have divided us in groups of two to better comb the entire area. Four of the teams will be on ground while the remaining team will keep an eye from the canopy. It wouldn't take us long to search…"

"I have already found the source of disturbance. Pulsating shadow energy, 5 Clicks from the fort walls close to an angle of 57.5 degrees. Your plan is good but I'd advise you to send another team up in the canopy." He said, making a casual suggestion.

Antara however took his casual suggestion seriously and under a minute changed the entire Plan of Action. I'd have to give the woman credit, she was good when it came to devising plans she was a daughter of the trickster goddess.

"Are we clear on the plan?" She asked the surrounding warriors.

With a silent nod, they all fell into ranks all except the sentinel. He took his place beside Antara.

Antara looked at me and nodded.

Acknowledging her, Noah sheathed his sword and with his warriors close behind them led them into the surrounding forest at a run.

He followed his location pointer, which he had set to the position of the energy source and quickly made his way through the forest with a warrior by his side while the other two ground teams maintained their distance from them, Antara a few hundred metres ahead of him while the sentinel brought up the rear.

The aerial team whizzed through the canopy, jumping from one tree to another, running across the branches ever so silently.

Light on their feet, they ran to their destination. Darian's voice giving them minute to minute updates. The situation remained the same until Antara was only few hundred metres from the shadow source when they heard Darian's voice again, it was cracking but one could easily make out the urgency in his voice and that was when he heard the ear-piercing howl.

Only one name came to his mind, hell hounds. Quickening his pace, he bolted across the forest leaving the warrior by his side far behind. HE had to protect Antara, there was no way he could let a sister of his be ripped apart be a hell hound. Drawing on his divine core, he soon closed the few hundred metres of distance between Antara and him. The female demigod stood like a statue before him, her sword unsheathed but not raised. She wasn't even making a single move.

When he moved closer he saw why. Standing before her were four hell hounds, wolves with dark fur the size of horses. What was surprising and on the same time relaxing was the fact that they weren't attacking her. Hell, they weren't even paying attention to her. They stood with their backs towards the demigods, circled around a small petite body on the ground.

A girl wearing an onyx and silver coloured armour lay on the ground. She laid face down, her body contorted in a heap. It seemed as if the hell hounds were standing guard over her body. That explained the high shadow aura. Hell hounds emitted shadow energy instead of dark energy.

Noah decided to advance slowly.

"Cover me" he whispered to Antara.

He didn't even wait to see if she acknowledged his order. In the high reached of the forest he did hear the tensing of bows. The archers were ready to cover for him. Behind him he heard the familiar sound of a sword being unsheathed. Antara was a master of twin sword sparring.

HE was confident that he might survive. If not, they'd surely recover his dead body, in one piece no less.

Carefully, he treaded his steps trying his best not to draw the attention of the hounds to himself or the other warriors who had now joined them, some taking cover behind the trees. I gestured at them to climb the trees to get a vantage point to shoot the hell hounds from with their celestial bronze arrows. The only other person who stood on ground with Antara was the sentinel. He stood in a crouched position next to Antara. With his spear drawn, he was rearing to attack.

Taking gentle steps, I was now only another footstep away from the closest hound. I was just wondering if I should take another step forward, when the hound turned its ugly, wolfish face in my direction, its blood red eyes glaring into mine.

For a moment I stood there transfixed. No matter how much I wanted I couldn't move. I have to admit that I was shit scared. I felt as if death was staring me in the eye and he truly was. A hell hound was death's messenger sent to retrieve a soul from the mortal world.

I felt cold, a shiver ran down my spine but that feeling quickly disappeared as my body felt it had been lit on fire. All the time, the hound simply gazed at me, its blood red eyes boring into mine.

There are no words in which I can explain the feeling. This hell hound was different, very different from the ones that we had previously hunted. Those that we had hunted in the past were animalistic beasts with the simple mission to kill and eat anything that came their way.

This hound however was different. Rather, all that stood before us were different.

It was while on that thought that the hound snapped his head away. A low growl reverberating deep in his chest. The other hounds quickly got up and phased away from the body. This hound however, turned to look at me one more time before it nodded its head and phased away as well.

For a moment, I was in a complete state of shock. I didn't know how to go about what had just happened but it didn't take me much time to snap back into attention. As soon as I gathered the wits about to myself I quickly fell on to the floor beside the girl, to examine if she was still alive.

I turned her over to check her pulse and when I did; to say that I was shocked would be an understatement, before me lay Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto. Her skin had turned a nasty shade of white and her lips a light blue. She had a pulse but it was weak. She didn't seem to have any external wounds but there could be some internal wounds.

There was no time. She needed immediate medical care. He picked her up in his arms; sharing a glance with his warriors with one look at him they assembled themselves in a defensive formation, taking defensive positions around him. Within less than moment's notice they were heading to Fort Olympus and while they made their way back one thing persistently began to plague mind of each and every warrior.

_Where were the other senior councillors?_

* * *

**IMPORTANT! **

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews guys. I'm glad you all are enjoying reading Pandemonium as much as I'm enjoying writing it. I'm sorry for the delay and short chapter. This is due to the fact that I was wasting my time writing another story which people were reading but didn't bother to review. I realised it was better to write a story which was atleast appreciated by the readers. From now on my entire focus will be on Pandemonium. For those who want to check out the Harry Potter DracoXHermione fanfic that I was writing can check out the link below.**

**KEEP REVIEWING.**


	3. New Warriors, New Council

**New Warriors, New Council  
**

It had been over a week since Noah Ellis and his warriors had brought in Hazel Levesque, Daughter of Pluto to the infirmary at Fort Olympus. They had found her severely injured and drained of power in the middle of the forest that surrounded the Fort. It was thanks to their quick thinking that they were able to save her otherwise she might have had to face a feat worse than her brother.

Her brother, Nico Di Angelo, Son of Hades and currently the only leader of Fort Olympus' warriors too was in bed. The healers had informed that he had gone into a come from the excessive drain of power and internal injuries. They had also predicted that it could be several weeks before he could regain his strength and wake up to the world. They had been both right and wrong.

In a far off corner in the infirmary was a private room which was usually reserved for Councillors of the Sentinel Order. The room had never seen much use except for the last two weeks during which it had been occupied 24x7. Nico Di Angelo, the last person anyone expected to be hurt so badly was the occupant but it didn't seem he'd be there for long.

It was late at night. Kyra Sawyer was going to the private room to carry out the regular check-up when she heard the distinctive sound of shattering of glass. Fearing the worst, she drew her dagger as was protocol and with a nurse by her side who had pulled her weapon as well, she barged into the room.

She half-expected to see some monster by Nico's bed side, preparing to end his life. However, what she saw didn't amaze her any less. Sitting on the bed and that too upright was the room's only occupant. Nico was drawing deep breaths and seemed to be in shock. Sharing a glance with her nurse, she quickly stowed her weapon and in turn pulled out a strange circular device with a glass at its centre and walked to him.

Coming to stand by his side, she kept her hands on his shoulders and forced him back into bed. Exhausted or maybe just shocked, Nico closed his eyes again. Taking the device in hand, she placed it above his mouth. The glass turned a light blue and letters of ancient Greek began to appear on it. The nurse who was accompanying Kyra quickly began to jot down notes on her pad while Kyra carried out the examination of the rest of the body.

After about half an hour when she had double checked his vitals she drew a syringe from her utility belt which contained within itself a viscous honey coloured liquid. Gently, she inserted the needle in the soft skin on the crook of his arm and pushed the contents of the syringe into his bloodstream.

"Tell the council that Councillor Nico Di Angelo will come to conscious by tomorrow morning. He's out of his come." Kyra said sighing as if a great burden had been lifted from her shoulders. However, the thought of Hazel Levesque and the critical condition she was in still haunted her.

* * *

Katherine Isadora Howell had just received news from the Infirmary that Councillor Angelo had come out of his coma. As the Herald it was her duty to bring this information to the Council of Sentinels or what was left of it. Most of the Council was still un-accounted for. All everyone knew was that they along with Councillor Hazel Levesque had gone out to hunt the monster that was proving to be a threat to the demigods, the same monster that had mortally wounded Councillor Angelo.

As she ran up the winding stairways to the Council chambers a single thought continued to circle in her mind. What fate had the other councillors suffered and who was responsible for Councillor Levesque's condition? She soon pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind as she came to doors through which lay the entrance to the Council chambers.

Knocking twice, she heard the voice that granted her permission to enter the chamber.

The double doors opened and Katherine walked into the chamber with her head held high, her back upright and with her hand on the hilt of her sword. As soon as she reached the centre of the hall, she bent on one knee and bowed deeply to the remaining councillors. There were six of them of which three were temporary, only called in when help was needed.

The councillors had taken the seats at the head of the circle. The thrones however were different. At the head of the council sat Travis Stoll, Son of Hermes and Commander of the Covert Operatives along with Will Solace, Son of Apollo who commanded the Archery Wing of Fort Olympus.

To Travis' right sat his brother Connor and Katie Gardener, Daughter of Demeter. On Will's Left sat Malcolm, Son of Athena and Andrew Mason, Son of Hephaestus. The Stoll twins along with Will Solace and Malcolm had done a terrific job at trying to handle the Fort and safeguarding it. However, there were those like Erida Psyche who wished that the other adhoc members be soon brought onto Council so that it could be run better but then again there were always a few road blocks along the journey and one had to deal with each before continuing on.

"Honourable Councillors, I come bearing good news. Councillor Nico Di Angelo has regained consciousness and will be reporting to the council tomorrow morning." Katherine said, in a firm and clear voice.

As soon as I finished speaking the six members broke into silent whispers but that too died down when Travis got up to speak, "Can we meet with Councillor Nico now?" he asked, his voice betraying his excitement.

"He's resting as of now but I have been told that he'll be awake soon and might wish to address the council in the morning." Katherine supplied, he head still bowed down.

"Then we wait till morning. Ask the other adhoc members to be present in the Council chambers at half past nine." Councillor Solace said in his usual calm voice.

"And Katherine, you can be at ease now." Councillor Katie said thoughtfully, in a mellow voice.

Katherine got up from the crouch in one swift move and with a final salute, turned on her feel and marched out of the council chamber.

Unknown to her the six councillors in the chamber heaved a sigh of relief. With Nico Di Angelo returning to the council they knew that Fort Olympus would now be in good hands.

It was early in the morning when Healer Kyra Sawyer walked into Councillor Nico's private room to carry out the regular check on his vitals. He wasn't supposed to be up for another hour. However, when she entered the room, she was mildly taken aback. The bed was empty and had been properly made. The room looked as if it had just been cleaned but what surprised her the most was the empty bed.

She went to the en-suite washroom to check if the room's occupant was there but strangely enough it too was empty. This wasn't good, she thought to herself. She must inform the guards and sentinels on duty that Councillor Nico was missing. Making haste she walked out of the room and out onto the corridor of the Infirmary's first floor.

As she was walking down the stairs a nurse ran up to her, "Healer Sawyer, Councillor Nico is in the armoury." She said, in between breaths. Not wanting to hear another word Kyra ran off to the armoury which was on the ground floor of the infirmary.

She whizzed past several other healers and nurses to the infirmary, throwing open the double doors to face her erstwhile patient. There before her stood Nico Di Angelo, Hades' Heir and Dark Prince of the Underworld. Remembering her place she curtsied deeply and didn't rise until Nico waved his hand.

"You have taken good care of me Healer Sawyer. I appreciate that." Nico said in his plain monotonous voice, with an un-noticeable touch of regard. He had already worn his combat uniform and strapped on his black breast plate. He was currently trying to fix his back plate.

Kyra moved forward and helped him fix the back plate in place while he turned his attention to his bracers.

"You are a good healer." Nico said.

"Thank you." Kyra said, securing the back plate and fastening the laces.

She then went to retrieve his sword. Three feet, double edged, pure stygian menace. She held it out for him in both hands.

Nico looked at the sword for a moment before his hand reached forward to grasp it by the hilt. Examining the sword, he said, "It's been tended to well."

Kyra nodded, "I had it polished last night when you came out of your coma. I had Commander Alec take it and get it polished." She said, keeping her head low.

Nodding and passing a slight smile to her, he sheathed the sword and fastened the chords of his cape. "Pass on the message to the guard commander at the Keep to double the security on all the walls and increase the number of teams out on patrol. Better still ask another cohort to join in on Guard Duty." He said, no ordered and left a startled Kyra behind who didn't know what to make out of the orders. So she did the best that she could. She personally went to the Guard Commander who was stunned at the orders that had been passed but she didn't question them instead she implemented the orders without even a second's delay.

Satisfied that she had carried out her order, Kyra began to head back to the infirmary when an urgent message came across her way which summoned her to the crystal chambers. Her presence was required that to as an adhoc councillors.

It seemed that she was about to have one hell of a day.

* * *

Nico walked down the halls of central tower at a slow pace. Although he didn't give the impression but he was still weak from his days in the bed. It'd take some time to get back to his original levels of energy.

Walking through the central doors he raised his hand at the guards on either side of the door to stand at ease. He then walked up the winding stair case that led to the Crystal chambers. While climbing, he cursed the day he agreed to Annabeth's plan for having the council chamber at the very top of the tower. Regardless, after a few silent curses he reached the end of the stairs which led to the entrance hall of the chambers.

An eerie silence hung in the tower.

The Sentinels that he crossed in the corridors and warriors that he passed in the courtyard and training arenas all looked lost for some reason. They all looked pre-occupied, scared even. This wasn't the Fort Olympus that he had come to known. What was it that was bothering everyone?

He however shunned the thoughts to the back of his head as he proceeded through the doors to the relatively empty chamber which came to him as a surprise. He expected the entire council to be there, already stationed. He was looking forward to Thalia admonishing his lateness, Percy getting up from his chair to give him a hug and clap on his back and Annabeth beaming at him from the corner.

He wasn't expecting only four councillors to be in the chamber. His train of thoughts was interrupted when a flustered looking Travis walked down with Connor, Malcolm and Will who looked equally agitated.

"Nico, we're so glad that you are out and walking about." Travis said, he still looked agitated but the way he sighed hinted at the fact that Travis Stoll had heaved a sigh of relied on seeing him.

"What's got you so nervous?" Nico asked the four councillors.

"You mean, you don't know?" asked Will exasperatedly?

Nico simply shook his head. He was under the impression that he'd be filled in by the council, most like his sister Hazel and Annabeth but since both were mysteriously absent he'd have to do with the present company.

"Who's going to fill him in?" Connor asked with a lopsided smile on his face.

"Not me." Said Travis, and made a T with the index fingers of both hands.

Malcolm and Will exchanged glances but Will sharply turned his face leaving Malcolm to sigh and look directly at Nico.

"We have a lot to discuss?" said the Leader of the Athena Cabin, "It is better you take a seat." He added as an afterthought.

Nico nodded and walked to his customary seat beside Thalia's chair at the head of the chamber.

Malcolm took the seat beside him while the other three councillors took their customary seats abandoning their temporary claim to the head of the council. Rightfully, Nico was head of council now and if he didn't take the seat it wasn't their right to do so as well.

Meanwhile Malcolm explained the series of events in detail. Right from the minute Nico passed out in the forest from excessive blood loss to the night they found Hazel in the forest drained of her energy. He also told him about Hestia taking over from Zeus and proclaiming herself as the Queen of Olympus.

Nico was quite taken aback at that piece of information. He never expected the calm and docile Hestia to host a mutiny against the King of Gods and was surprised she had managed to overthrow him. He was even more surprised to know that Poseidon and Hades had helped her overthrow Zeus. What was even more surprising was the fact that most of Zeus's children i.e. Athena, Hermes, Apollo and Artemis had sided with their Aunt. What was the world coming to?

However that wasn't the end. He was soon told about Percy and Thalia's master plan to hunt down the monster that had mortally wounded him and killed Zeno.

Nico wasn't surprised. Both Thalia and Percy were brash but if Annabeth was in on this that meant they had a plan and if they hadn't returned as yet it meant the plan had gone horribly wrong.

"We found Hazel in the forest surrounded by a pack of hell hounds. They were standing guard over her. What was most surprising was that although she was extremely weak she was radiating astronomical levels of Shadow energy." Malcolm said as if narrating the story. He was about to continue further on when Nico cut in.

"Shadow energy? Astronomical figures? You are shitting me. After making a two way trip to the shadow region and back there is no chance that she could radiate astronomical figures." Nico said, dismissing their claims.

"We are only telling you what was told to us by the healers and the guard commander." Will said, in defence of Malcolm.

Nico knew what they were telling him wasn't possible. He was sure that Hazel would just have enough energy to bring herself back from the shadow region or maybe not even that. Heck! He was the only one out of all his siblings who could take multiple people to the Shadow region and bring them back. It was an exhaustive process but it was something he could do. Hazel on the other hand could only make a one way trip with the bucket load of people.

"She's going to be fine Nico. Kyra is taking good care of her." Will said. The Son of Apollo saw the concern Nico showed for his sister and he visibly looked worried.

Nico nodded, "What about the other councillors? Have you sent out search parties to the shadow region?" he asked them.

The four councillors began to steal glances at each other but in the end it was Travis who spoke, "We weren't sure if that was the best thing to do. On the other hand the Dealers of Death kind of mutinied when we suggested that they go to the Shadow Region. They said that you and Hazel had restricted them from going there." Malcolm said his voice indifferent.

Nico silently cursed. Of course they had restricted the Dealers of Death from going there, the entire cohort was built of demigods who had the ability to shadow travel, children of Thanatos, Melinoe, Phantosus and many more. The few children of Ares that rarely made it to the group travelled side along with the expert shadow travellers or along with the few Hell Hounds the cohort had tamed.

Sighing, Nico nodded, "It's not their fault. We did forbid them to go there and I think for the right reason now. Most of them wouldn't have made it back. They aren't that strong."

"We need you to take over the council Nico. Without you, Fort Olympus will go to the dogs." Travis said, referring to those few demigods who were vying to take control of the Fort for themselves.

"Who are we looking at as of now?" Nico asked.

"Erida Psyche." Travis seethed.

"The daughter of Discordia" Nico asked his eyebrow arched.

"The very same" Will said, repulsed at the thought of the girl.

"Anyone else causing trouble" Nico asked.

"A couple, Delilah Rosemary but she has been evicted to Poseidon's under sea dominion. James Lowell, we are having troubles dealing with his cohort. He's not behaving well enough. No dereliction of duty as such but the reason we can't trust him is because he's a son of Mars a.k.a. Ares and if the grapevine is to be believed he's close to his father." Malcolm supplied.

Nico nodded. While Delilah wasn't a cause for concern anymore, he could see why they saw James as one. James was what people referred to as a loyal son. While children of Ares might or might not be loyal to their father, the children of Mars were fiercely loyal and as long as James was in charge of the Thundering Pegasi we couldn't trust their loyalty one-hundred per cent.

"I think it'd be advisable to change the Commander of The Thundering Pegasi." Nico said, his brows knitted in thought.

"But on what grounds?" asked Malcolm.

A smirk found its way on Nico's lips, "We promote him to Councillor."

"What?" Connor and Travis shouted at the same time.

Malcolm however was composed, "You are suggesting that we make a Son of Mars a Councillor." Doubt was etched on his face.

"I don't see any harm. He's been a loyal commander for the last four years and a warrior even longer than that. He's honourable in every sense of the word. I don't see why we should not promote him." He said coolly.

"I don't think you understand." Will said his gaze trained on Nico.

"What?" Nico asked.

"The members have already been chosen we can't change that." Will said, in a serious tone.

"I think with the Council 'missing' and we being the new council they'll just have to agree with us." Nico said, getting up from his seat and taking Thalia's throne. He gestured at the others to do the same.

One by one the other four demigods got up and took the seats at the head of the council however they all steered clear from Percy's seat. If Nico hadn't taken it, it meant none of them could.

Once they took their seats. Nico got up from his throne, "Until we find the other members of this council, 'we' are the council. There will be no more discussion on that." He said his voice the echo of deathly calmness.

The others knew better not to cross his words. They also knew that He was the leader of 'their' council.

"Are we clear?" he asked, a broad smile on his face.

The four simply nodded.

"Good then. I believe we need eight new members for the council, any suggestions?" He said.

"Erida Psyche." Said Will, "We'll be able to keep a better eye on her and thus separate her from her support group."

The others consented. They knew it was important to have the wine-haired-bitch on board.

"James Lowell." Nico said. It was a name that wasn't open to vote. Nico had decided to add him regardless of what the other councillors thought.

"Alec Blackwood." Malcolm suggested.

"Blackwood! Are you kidding me?" Connor said, amazed that someone would suggest the Death dealer's name.

"I think it's a fair choice." Will consented.

They then looked to Nico, who gently nodded, "Three filled, five to go." He said childishly.

"Might I suggest my sister Kyra Sawyer? She's a fantastic healer." Will proposed.

The name was put to vote and was accepted.

"Might I suggest, Maritime Tortelle and Talen Berraz? It is important to have children of Poseidon and Zeus in the fold, especially Zeus since he's been ousted from Olympus. We don't want Zeus' children to feel like third class citizens, now do we? They are after all one of the strongest demigods around." Nico said. His words were that of wisdom and no one thought for more than a second before they accepted the name.

"We now have to choose the other two seats very wisely. Hephaestus and Nemesis would want representation and so would several others." Connor said, for some strange reason he sounded anxious, "I'd like to back out from the Council."

His last few words were met with protests from Will and Travis. Malcolm was silent while Nico was in deep thought.

"Don't you understand? It doesn't make sense for two sons of Hermes to stay on the council." Connor said.

"Chris and I were both on the council about a week ago. I think we can overlook your observation." Travis argued.

"Yes, but then Chris had shown outstanding contribution during both the wars and just admit it, the other 'councillors' won't accept us on the Council together." Connor said. He was making sense and it was thoughtful for him to sacrifice his seat on the council to improve the council's hold and without another word, Connor got up from his seat and walked out of the chamber leaving Travis behind whose gaze followed his brother till he walk through the double doors.

"It was an honourable decision Travis." Nico said, trying to console him.

"Let's continue." That's all that Travis said.

"We have three seats left to fill and I think it's advisable to fill them with Sentinels, sentinels who would provide leverage against Erida." Said Will after much thought.

"Aaron Madonna and Laura Lacour seem fitting choices to me. The last position should go to Katie Gardener; it'd help to have nature's muscle on our side." Travis said it was more of a statement than a suggestion.

For a moment the chamber fell silent but then, "I second Travis' suggestion." Nico said in the same tone he had used when he suggested James name. His decision wasn't to be contested.

And so the new members of The Order of Sentinel Council were decided, each member chosen not only for their strength but because they were politically the right choices.

* * *

Alec Blackwood stood with James Lowell in the entrance hall outside the Crystal chambers. They had been summoned only a few minutes ago and like everyone else he'd made rush and coming to stand next to Lowell was pure coincidence.

Alec normally associated with only few demigods outside his cohort that too mostly sentinels. He recognized a few of the assembled warriors. Talen Berraz, the son of Zeus and Erida Psyche and Executioner, he knew them well enough to call them acquaintances. The other three he didn't know. There was a girl with long black hair and sea green eyes, he deduced her to be a daughter of Poseidon. There was the daughter of Apollo who was a senior healer at the infirmary, Sawyer her last name was. The other two remaining warriors he didn't recognise at all.

"Why have been summoned?" Alec asked James.

James simply shook his head but Alec's question was soon to be answered as the doors to the crystal chamber opened to admit them in.

In two straight files of four, the demigods walked in to be greeted by five councillors who stood at their seats by order of precedence at the head of the council.

Nico di Angelo along with Katie Gardener stood occupied the central position. Towards Katie's left stood Travis Stoll and on Nico's right stood Malcolm and Will Solace.

The demigods were about to kneel when Nico's voice rang out, "There's no need for you to bow. From here on you are Councillors of the Order of Sentinels chosen to succeed those who aren't amongst anymore. However, it's my duty to inform you that whenever a senior councillor then your new rank shall only remain honorary."

"Does anyone have anything to say or ask?" Katie asked, taking a stand besides Nico.

The assembled demigods stood in silence their faces expressionless as they all wore a mask of neutrality. Some of them however weren't very good at masking their emotions. Nico's gaze darted from Erida Psyche whose eyes were gleaming with Pride to Laura Lacour and Aaron Madonna who were beyond excitement.

Then there was Kyra who looked gobsmacked, still taking in the information.

The others however were perfect marble statues.

"Good then." Nico said beaming at the warriors and raising his arms, "Take your seats and we'll start the first session of this new Council."

As the demigods took to their marble seats, Nico couldn't help but wonder about the winds of change that had left no stone unturned.

Strange, he thought to himself. It felt as if another War was coming their way and to be honest, he was rather looking forward to it because that's what demigods did best. FIGHT.

* * *

**A/N: Okay guys do Review this chapter coz there were very few reviews and hits on the previous one. Also please tell me the name of your OC, so I can give you credit for the OC. Please do that.**

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	4. The Beginning of a War

**The Beginning of a War**

Londinium was an old Victorian age city built on an island that was raised from the depths of the North Sea by Poseidon. The British pagans worshipped Poseidon in various forms but not in his Roman or Greek avatar. This was chiefly because Poseidon never appeared to them in these forms. He was the only Roman God that the British worshipped for he was the only one who had appeared to them. However with the rise of Christianity the British natives were frowned upon for worshipping a Pagan God. The British however didn't give up on their faith and continued to worship the God of Seas and Storm.

In return for their loyalty Poseidon blessed them with longevity and strength of world domination. Over the centuries the British rose to power. It was during the late 19th century that they were at the height of their power. With several colonies across the globe under their rule it seemed that Poseidon's blessing ran its course over the next century, for at the end of the 20th century Britain's influence was reduced to its foundation isles and few islands in the North Sea.

Londinium however had a different beginning. Londinium was the City of Legacy, the legacy of the Gods. It was founded with the same idea of Camp Half-Blood however as the populous grew instead of leaving the island they settled on it and there began the foundation of the Legacy City. Over time the flame of west travelled to the American continents and with it the gods. Nevertheless the city of legacy stood on its foundation with a self-sustaining populace of several thousand legacies and few hundred demigods.

Had it participated in the Second Titanomachy and Gigantomachy, it would have played a crucial role but the City of Londinium chose to stay out of both wars and instead concentrated upon protecting its own borders. However, when the Olympian council approached it to become a part of their democracy it was an offer to good to refuse and therefore Londinium was re-established as the City of Legacy and became the centre of the Olympian nations.

It was the City of Legacy in true sense. Whether it be art and architecture or trade and commerce, the divine genetics had been used to their maximum potential to produce the best of the best. It had become a city of chief importance and a city such as Londinium required to be preserved and for that very purpose it was also home to two Roman legions. The 9th Legion which had gone missing in the glens of the North had found its way to the mystical island. The other legion that played homage to the City was the 13th Legion. Disbanded soon after its creation, the legion too found its way to Londinium courtesy Poseidon.

Thus an army of about 10, 000 soldiers were dedicated to protect the city with 5400 soldiers in each legion which in turn was made of ten cohorts of six centuries each.

I, Maritime Tortelle am a part of such a legion. As a matter of fact I was the Commander of the 9th Legion and the captain of the 9th Legion's first cohort, Sea Storm but now it seemed that I had been upgraded to the rank of Councillor of the Order of Sentinels.

I was never the one who wished to hold a seat of power. Content in my world and what I had it seemed that I couldn't escape my destiny of being the daughter of Poseidon, his only daughter on the surface to be exact.

I wasn't cut out to lead nor was I cut out to fight but being a demigod it seemed that I had inherited it. I simply hate to fight and try to avoid it as much as I can but it seems that a demigod's life revolves around war and that's why we are created. No, we are created out of mistakes but we tend to become highly useful at the end of the day. We are mistakes that are divine parent's commit purposely but then again I'm not the one to complain. Those who do don't achieve anything and lead lives of sorrow and I surely don't want to do that. Had it been up to me I'd be back in Londinium having a gala at Londinium's marble Amphitheatre, alas I was stuck in the Crystal chamber at the top of the Central tower in Fort Olympus with the other Councillors, all of whom found it difficult to crack a smile.

Even Travis Stoll, the person who had a smile permanently etched on his face wore a grim expression that resembled Nico's.

On second thought, they all wore similar grim expressions.

James Lowell and Alec Blackwood had started looking like Nico when it came to wearing masks of indifference. Even my cousin, Talen wore a serious expression. The others I'd rather not mention. Currently we had all lent our ears to one, Erida Psyche and Execution in the Order of the Sentinels.

"It is our duty to increase the number of Soldiers required to defend Fort Olympus. We cannot always count on the other cohorts and the sentinel corps to lend us warriors for guarding the Fort. We must establish a legion and start initiating soldiers as soon as possible." She said, putting her point forward with conviction.

"And where do you suggest we bring these soldiers from" asked Aaron Madonna, another Sentinel and clearly her rival.

"Yes, we can't recruit from Themiscyra and New Constantinople." She said, in support of her comrade.

"I know that." Said Erida acidly, glaring at the warriors who sat opposite her.

"I was going to suggest that we recruit from New Rome, Londinium and Byzantium." Erida said, her eyes focussed on Nico and Travis who sat at the head of the council.

A smirk crept its way on my face. This woman needed to be shown her place.

"You can't recruit from Londinium." I said in a loud and clear voice, getting up from my throne.

She turned away from Nico to face me, "And why is that?" she asked sharply.

"Reason being that Fort Olympus doesn't hold any jurisdiction in Londinium." I said, maintaining the pitch of my voice.

She narrowed her eyes, glaring at me.

"It's the Olympic council that approves Jurisdiction over the various domains. Surely we can appeal to them for extending our jurisdiction over Londinium." Erida said.

"I doubt the council will approve of such a thing." I said my expressions neutral but I was sure that my eyes were gleaming.

"And why pray tell, would they have a problem?" Erida asked, exasperated.

"Poseidon won't allow it. Londinium is exclusively his domain. After all, he is the patron god." I said, maintaining the level of calmness in my voice.

"Impossible." Erida muttered, she seemed taken aback by the revelation.

"I think it's time that you go back to the history books chère" I said, in my French accent.

Talen who was sitting beside me sniggered but he was able to control it before her got the evil eye from Nico.

"I think we have debated enough on this." Nico said in his unusually calm but shiver inducing dark voice.

"While it is true that we need a legion exclusively for Fort Olympus it is also true that there are not many places we can recruit from. Like Londinium, Byzantium too cannot be considered and as far as New Rome goes they don't have enough to spare for our Legion." Nico said, his voice followed by a wringing silence.

"But you believe that we need a legion?" Erida asked him intently.

"I do" he said nodding gently.

"So, how are we going to get at it?" Travis asked him.

Nico looked to Malcolm and soon the other councillors trained their gaze at the Son of Athena.

Malcolm rose from his seat as Nico took his throne.

"Considering Erida's petition and the fact that we don't have many centres for recruitment, the only we can deal with this situation is to initiate all students and apprentices into the Legion." Malcolm said, but his voice was drowned in an uproar by the various commanders of several cohorts.

"There is no way that I'm letting go of the demigods that have been apprenticing with my cohort for the last year." Shouted James Lowell, his brown eyes were flickering a dangerous red with anger.

"I agree" Said Alec from beside James, although his voice was calmer than James their tempers were running on the same level, "My cohort has already initiated fifteen new demigods and has assigned them on duties and missions. I'm not giving them back even if their release orders haven't come back from the Academy."

"Nor am I." said Talen, rising from his seat beside me.

I was glad that I didn't have to worry about the situation as I didn't recruit from Fort Olympus anyway. My home ground for recruitment was Londinium and most of the demigods came to my cohort.

"Silence" Shouted Nico, without getting up from his throne.

A cold shiver hung in the entire chamber. This was Nico exhibiting his powers. Even though it was just a fraction of his strength, it was strong enough to silence all of us.

"Those who have already initiated a fledgling or have completed the selection process may initiate the apprentices in their cohorts however those demigods who haven't been initiated will form the cohorts of the Legion of Sentries." Nico said, putting an end to the arguments.

He then turned his gaze to Malcolm, "How many demigods have already been initiated or in the process of initiation?"

Malcolm sighed and brought out a data pad, "Close to a hundred have been selected, and most of whom have already been initiated. Another two hundred initiates are waiting to be recruited by the Camps at New Rome and Hadrian's Fort."

"We won't outsource them." Nico cut in, "They along with third year neophytes, who I assume will be around three hundred in number will form the Legion."

The way Nico spoke it was evident that what he had just said wasn't a suggestion but a direct order. He wasn't willing to consider or hear another opinion.

He then trained his gaze on the two councillors sitting at the very end of the circle, Aaron Madonna and Laura Lacour.

"Aaron, Laura; I want the two of you to take command of the council on a joint basis. Go to the academy now and inform the masters." Nico said.

Aaron and Laura both got up from their seats and walked out of the chamber at a swift pace.

I sighed, they were lucky to have been sent away. At least they won't have to attend the rest of the session which seemed to be never ending. I was so screwed. I just wanted to get out of here. I wondered why I was even here. What did Nico see in me to make me a councillor? But the answer was obvious and was glaring me in the eye.

It wasn't me that he wanted on the council. No, he wanted the Commander of the 9th and 13th Legion on the Council of the _Order of the Sentinels._

"Commander Tortelle, can you tell us more about Londinium's Auxiliary garrison" Nico said unusually loud with a smirk on his face.

It seemed that he had caught up on my underlying emotions. Nonetheless I got up from my seat to address the remaining council but my eyes were trained on Nico.

Sighing, I began what I knew was going to be a long conversation, "The Londinium defence forces comprises of the 9th and the 13th Legion each of which have close to 6000 soldiers. In addition, to the legions we have three auxiliary cohorts of hundred soldiers each, an equestrian cohort and a cohort of Pegasus riders with an equivalent number." I continued to stand as I knew Nico wouldn't have asked me to spell out defence details without any purpose.

"That's more than required won't you say?" He asked me.

"It's what we the forces of Londinium have been comprised of over _the last 18 centuries_." I said my reason supported with conviction.

Nico seemed to consider for a minute before he spoke, "I'd like to request you to return to Londinium and analyse the situation. I want you to send back any additional neophytes from the Londinium Academy."

I was astounded. Wasn't he listening when I told Erida why they couldn't recruit from Londinium?

I didn't want to repeat myself but it seemed that the situation demanded it, "Lord Nico, I'm sorry to repeat myself…" but he cut in before I could say another word.

"Commander Tortelle, you and I both know that those neophytes would end up staying in the academy for quite a few years before room can be made for them in the existing legions. Here at least they'd be put to good use. Think of it as a field assignment. You can have them back as you create space for them in the existing legions." He said, without faltering and speaking in a no-nonsense taken clear voice.

There was nothing I could do. I couldn't put up an argument, he would refute me instantly. I couldn't deny a reasonable demand and I couldn't deny him in any case.

No, I'd have to carry out his demand and on second thought it wasn't unjust. At least he didn't demand an entire cohort from the auxiliary garrison.

"I'd depart with the wind my lord." I said, bowing to him. Whatever anyone said and despite the fact that I was a councillor, I didn't forget that Nico was senior to me by several years and he did rule the roost in Percy, Jason and Thalia's absence.

"Not with the wind." He said meekly, he then turned his gaze to Alec Blackwood, "You'll take Alec and the Dealers of Death along with you. I assure you it'll be much faster."

Alec got up from his seat and bowed to Nico as well. He didn't contest Nico's decision and never questioned his decisions but I wasn't made of the same material, "I'm sorry my lord but I don't see the need of an entire cohort accompanying me. I'm quite capable of riding a Pegasus and travelling on my own."

"I insist." Nico said and that's all he needed to.

Nico wasn't a dictator, not yet but he knew how to enforce his command and I knew better than argue further.

With another bow I walked out of the crystal chamber with Alec Blackwood on my heels.

"How long would it take your cohort to prepare for the travel?" I asked him as we climbed down the stairs.

"An hour but you and I can leave as soon as you are ready. The rest shall shadow travel to Londinium as they prepare." Alec said in a neutral tone.

Nodding, I asked him to meet me in my chambers in about half an hour. He accompanied me to the barracks from where we went our separate ways.

I headed to my room to gather my few spare belongings and put them in a duffel bag. I then opened my cupboard and pulled out my armour of the hanger. I traded my linothorax for a shirt and a corset. With my corset in place, I donned my breastplate and back plate finishing the uniform with my ceremonial bracers and greaves. I then unfolded my cape which was painted in several shades of blue and fastened it around my neck.

With my sword on my waist, I slung the duffel bag on my back and walked out the door to my room to be greeted by the Commander of the Dealers of Death, Alec Blackwood. I have to say, he cleaned up well.

Dressed in black and grey steel he did look like a Death Dealer.

"Shall we proceed?" he asked in a silky voice with his eyebrow quirked. To be honest I liked what I saw and I think he realised that. Although I knew him enough about him to fall for him but how the hell do you not fall for such a good looking guy? If it's stupid to fall for him, I'm ready to take a sword through me.

"Anytime you are ready." I said slipping my hand in his outstretched palm. Carefully and slowly he locked his fingers with mine. Firming his grasp on my hand he turned his full attention to me. I felt the intensity of his gaze as his eyes looked into mine. Cold, hollow eyes bore into my bubbling sea green.

"Brace yourself. It isn't a pleasant feeling." He whispered but I couldn't even respond. It seemed as if I had frozen in the moment, mesmerized by his eyes and before I could say anything I felt a shiver run down my spine electrifying my being. Had I not been so focused on his eyes I'd have observed the shadows rising to take us into their veil and the dark overtake us.

I was supposed to be cold but I wasn't for I was lost and all I knew was the eyes that bore into mine and it wasn't long before it became the last thing as I saw as my eyes rolled back into my head and I knew no more.

* * *

My head throbbed with pain. It wasn't severe but just enough to irritate me. I was coming to my senses now and the first thing I knew was that I was home.

Although my eyes were still closed I knew I was back in Londinium and in my quarters overlooking the sea. Slowly, I opened my eyes and took in the familiar surroundings. Not much had changed in the last few weeks that I had been at Fort Olympus.

I noticed that I didn't have my armour on. I was wearing a light cotton shirt and that was about it. I remembered passing out and I also remembered the last thing that I saw but I surely didn't remember coming into my room and changing into my light clothes.

"Miss me much?" asked the person who I was thinking about.

I turned my head in the direction of the voice. Standing in the corner and looking out of the window, Alec stood looking out at the sea. Night had almost fallen as the horizon was now painted a dark inky blue strewn with several twinkling stars.

"Why do you think?" I asked him, with a slight laugh in my voice.

He turned to look at me with a lopsided smile on his face. He had taken his armour off and wore only his combat trousers and a black vest. Now that I looked at him he was pretty lean with slight muscles. His black hair was cropped short and his pale skin seemed to shine in the candlelight. There was no doubt that he was handsome.

A smile came to my lips as I took his divine form in. There were times when I expected him to sprout fangs and his eyes to turn bloody. I half expected him to be a demon from Hell but it seemed that he was not so.

I propped myself on my pillows and sat up.

He started walking up to me, taking each step like a wolf hunting his prey.

"You want to know why? Strange, don't you remember?" He said with the same lopsided smile on his face as he walked.

"Should I?" I asked with a quirked eyebrow, while I haggled with my mind to remember what he was hinting at.

He came to a halt on the foot of my bed but didn't stay there and came and sat beside me. Closing the distance between us he looked in to my eyes, "You really don't remember do you?" he whispered, a smile playing on his lips.

Is that what I wanted? I asked myself. Did I really? I contemplated.

I looked at him once again and taking his divine form in I made my decision. Why not?

He had made his move and now it was time to make mine, "Why don't you remind me?" and with those words I closed the distance between us with a kiss and it seemed that's all I needed to for him to take control of me and surprisingly I let him.

I couldn't concentrate. Let alone think properly. All I could do was to feel; I could feel his calloused hands, touching every inch of my body in a gentle, yet possessive way. I could feel his breath hitch at every kiss. I could hear his moans and groans at each contact. I could feel how much he wanted me at that very moment.

**M RATED (Minors Please Avoid)- Third Person POV**

She spread her legs and his growing arousal made a painful contact with her heating core. They both groaned at the given pleasure and torture. And because of that simple contact, their clothing was taken off in a blink of an eye.

It was agonizingly slow. She could feel his hands everywhere. His lips left a fiery sensation at each contact it made on her skin. Her breasts were perked in responsiveness to his massaging hands. She felt his hot tongue twirling on her mounds and she couldn't help but gasped his name out, which only fuelled his growing arousal.

Her hands, unconscious to her, move to touch the man with the God-like body on top of her. Through her finger-tips, she felt the hard structures of his stomach. Even though she was unconsciously feeling around her, she was still too shy to go any lower than his waist; therefore they wound their way around his abdomen and towards the top of his head, where his ebony locks were located. Her fingers intertwined with his hair as she pulled him to her to join them in a heated kiss.

His fingers left feather-like touches on her skin. Through all the beautiful sensations that she was feeling, she could feel his long fingers playing on the inside of her thighs. She grew nervous. Suddenly her back instinctively arched forward, her chest making contact with his.

His fingers, they were inside her. It was uncomfortable. She herself had never touched herself in that way ever before. She groaned. Her body had finally gotten used to the penetration. Instead of whimpering due to it being uncomfortable, she started to groan in absolute pleasure. She had no idea that there were places inside of her that can provoke such feelings of pleasure.

And then it came. That feeling in her gut, slowly building up to its highest peak before it was ready to burst. She screamed, and felt waves of desire, familiarity and comfort wash over her, but that's when she felt it. It was a tight snap. A great heave of force. _Pain_. She screamed again. This time, it was void of pleasure, just pure pain.

She calmed down after a few breaths, also because of his comforting words created by his baritone voice, whispering lightly on her ear. It wasn't as painful as she thought it would be. When she finally calmed and had gotten used to him being inside her, she felt him move, ever so unbearably slow, and when she felt the pain go away only for pleasure to take its place, she started to moan. She couldn't believe she was moaning. She felt like she was a completely different person, making such seductive noises.

Her arms automatically wrapped around him when she finally urged him to go faster which only made him happy to comply. His strong hands gripped her thighs, to a point where she was sure marks were going to develop. She felt it again, that erupting feeling in the pit of her stomach. She screamed her release with her back arched high and her mouth open even as the sound of her scream withered away. And when she was coming down from her natural high, she could still feel him moving within her. She looked at him. His face was contorted in concentration, his usual pale face was tinted a bright red, and then he grunted, and then moaned out his release, his mouth opening as an uncontrollable gasp escaped his lips. She gasped out after him, and then feeling his warm release within her, now conjoined with hers.

**M- RATED ENDS**

With a feathery kiss on her forehead, Alec moved off her and lay by her side, heaving and gasping for breath.

Maritime was still in a state of ecstasy, oblivious of what had just happened. There was only one thing that was swirling in her mind, "I knew I'd remember" she said with a smile on her face as she turned to face him.

A laugh escaped Alec's mouth and he closed the distance between them with his lips. However he broke it quickly as he was still a little short of breath.

Maritime dimmed the lights and blew out the candles. Pulling the sheets up to her neck she closed her eyes to sleep but for the first time in several weeks there was a smile on her face.

There was one on Alec's face as well but for a completely different reason.

* * *

I woke up with a groan and a throbbing head ache. I didn't wake up on my own too.

Someone had been knocking at the door for the past several minutes and shouting my name.

With a hand to the head I got up from the bed and headed to the door but before I moved to open it I realised the state I was in and decided to at least button my shirt. Once I did that, I unbolted the door to reveal the face of my Second-in-command, Nick Andrews, Son of Summanus and Ex-Sentinel.

I had offered Nick the job only a few days back when he had been rotated here for guard duty. Boyish in many ways, he was mostly intoxicated but he fought well without his inhibitions. Hell! He fought like a monster without his inhibitions.

Seeing the state I was in, Nick quickly looked away.

"Why are you knocking my door at this ungodly hour?" I shouted at him.

But before he could answer I heard the familiar sound of the warning signal. The sound of a conch horn reverberated over the skies of Londinium. That couldn't be right, we hadn't been attacked in ages but before I finished that thought. The conch horn was blown again.

"What's the meaning of this?" I asked Nick, bewildered.

"I think you know." He said, his eyes still averted.

For once in my life I didn't know what to do. My head was a swirling mess but I had to do something.

"Summon the commanders and man the walls. Prepare all the primary defences and send scouts. Send word to Fort Olympus. I will see you at the Guard Tower." I said, I could hear the urgency in my voice and also the slight fear.

As I closed the door the conch horn was still being blown.

"What's all the noise about?" Alec groaned, his face buried in his pillow.

However, instead of waking him up, Maritime walked to her window to look out at the sea.

Normally the sea would be a beautiful shade of Cerulean early in the morning but today the cerulean waters were marred with gigantic ships, with black hulls. There were still far away to count but she knew each ship was roughly the size of an air-craft carrier.

She stood rooted to her floor, looking at the enemy armada as it proceeded to sail towards Londinium. She heard the blaring of the conch horn and the sound of the warriors as they ran to their posts. She knew she had to get ready for war but she couldn't move. It seemed as if her feet had taken roots.

* * *

I had never liked the sea, it made me sick however larger the ship the lesser the sea sickness and in case of my flagship, _Catastros_. I didn't feel sick at all.

Standing on the observation deck I looked out at the beautiful city we were about to make shore at. It was beautiful, yes but we were here to destroy it and I was the one who was going to burn it to ashes.

_A strong wind blew from the sea to the walls of the City of Londinium. The warriors of the 9__th__ and 13__th__ legion thinking it of as a sign from Poseidon rejoiced but little did they know that the winds was created by the flapping of wings. In Particular, the wings of the Angel who was third in strength to the creator of the universe._

_Gabriel, the Might of chaos and in earlier life Zeno Leonidas Spades._


	5. Trivium of Might

**Trivium of Might**

With the tide the black ships sailed to the ancient city of Olympian Britannica, Londinium also known as the city of Legacy.

Colossal ships, reeking of darkness sped across the cerulean waters of the North Sea leaving them dark in their wake. Several goliath ships sailed to the City of Legacy, their cannons ready to fire and reduce the long standing dominion of Poseidon to dust and rubble. They didn't expect any resistance. The motive of the attack was clear, to destroy Londinium and reduce it to ash and dust.

It was a mission to destroy, a mission that could be fulfilled by only one of Chaos' generals.

Zeno Leonidas aka Gabriel stood at the observation deck. Behind him stood three other cloaked figures, their faces covered with a cowl. They all bore similarity to each other and with their faces hidden they could be passed for triplets.

"It seems that we have caught them unaware My Lord" Said the cowled figure in on the left.

"Or perhaps they are preparing silently." Zeno said in a low haunting voice.

"You orders, Lord Gabriel?" asked the robed figure in the centre.

Zeno considered his words before he spoke them out loud. He knew that Londinium was not only a city but a well-protected fortress as well. He knew they'd meet resistance but he didn't know their level of strength and how his enemies would match up to his own warriors. To know that, he'd first need to test his enemies.

"Elijah." Zeno called out to the warrior to his right.

"Take the 2nd Legion of Destruction ashore and test the enemy defences. Let's see how good are they are at protecting their walls and what they have planned for our welcome." Zeno said. His voice was that of command.

"A single legion" Elijah asked unsure of his master's plan.

"Do you doubt me?" Zeno asked, turning around to look at the cowled figure with hollowed eyes.

"No, My Lord" Said Elijah. He regretted the fact that he spoke out of turn.

"Good, then lay siege on the walls of Londinium with the 2nd Legion of Destruction." Zeno said dismissively.

Elijah, thanking his stars quickly got up and made his way to the frontier ships that carried the 2nd legion.

Zeno walked to the wall length glass windows that gave him a view of the ships that surrounded his own. At the head of the fleet, speeding to the Londinium shore were the ships that carried the 2nd Legion of Destruction. The ships were aptly named _Bane, Carnage and Havoc. _

Although the legion could be easily fit on one of these ships as well however the forces were divided in order to accommodate other auxiliary garrisons as well which were formed by warriors from different species, a trump card that Zeno was saving for later.

Zeno saw from the observation chamber, Elijah taking off on a midnight coloured Pegasus from the deck below along with his own personal vanguard of twelve soldiers who followed him into the air on their own raven coloured Pegasi.

"What should we do for the time being Lord Gabriel?" asked the warrior, who was earlier standing in the middle.

"Patience, Cain. All in due time" Zeno said, dismissing the warrior from his presence.

The two warriors Cain and Benjamin left Zeno's presence knowing that they would be summoned when needed.

Meanwhile Zeno turned his attention to the three ships at the forefront of the flotilla. Conjuring a throne for himself out of nothingness he took a seat so that he could see the first battle out of several in comfort. It was just a matter of time that Olympus realised the mess they were in.

* * *

Although she wasn't sure that she was ready for it yet. Still, Maritime ran up the stairs that led her to the parapets of the walls that enclosed Londinium within them. The walls like those of Troy were said to be made by Poseidon himself but the truth was that he had just detailed his legion of Cyclops to make it in order to better protect his city and they had done a bang up job.

Londinium had never been invaded but the theory was that it was as impenetrable as the City of Troy and judging by those standards it meant that if they were to be brought down History would have to repeat the Trojan Horse incident.

As she climbed the stairs she was closely followed by her Second in Command, Nick Andrews and her half-brother Kale Elmwood, Commander of the Scarlet Viper Cohort. Alec was nowhere to be seen.

Maritime and Alec had left the former's quarters at the same time but she had lost sight of him as she was joined by the other warriors and commanders but she forgot all about him as she started talking to her commanders.

"Have you been studying their moves Nick?" She asked him as she climbed the last step and set foot on the formidable wall. Two soldiers dressed in standard Roman Armour brought their feet to attention and saluted smartly by crossing their swords over their shields.

"At ease" Maritime said hastily, dismissing them with a wave of her hand.

She walked over to the stone balustrade and two of the archers stepped back to make room for their commander to stand. Maritime walked to the guardrail and as she gazed upon the emerging armada, she felt weak in her knees. She had to hold the guardrail to support herself. She couldn't give an impression that she was scared. If fear took over her and she fell then so would her legions and city, just like a pack of dominoes.

She closed her eyes and prayed to her father for strength and only strength. She'd ask for help when she'd start losing hope.

Praying, she began to lose herself in her thoughts and when she was on the brink of losing contact with her physical self she was brought back to reality by her brother.

"Mari, we need you here." Kale said with urgency.

Maritime opened her eyes to find her brother by her side. He was staring wide-eyed at the approaching armada. Fear evident in his eyes, he quickly tried to hide it behind a mask of conviction.

If there was one thing that demigods had got better at it was masking their emotions but masking our emotions wasn't what we needed to do right now, our need was much greater than putting up a façade.

"Nick!" I called out to my second in command.

"Yes Commander." Nick responded, coming to stand beside me.

"I remember asking you to provide me intel on our _visitors_." I said my voice calm.

"Yes commander. I sent out snoop sentries to gather intel however out of the squad of twelve that I sent only three made it back and that too severely wounded. We are currently in the process of retrieving their memories telepathically but it'll take time." He said.

"Tell those telepaths to break the third level barriers if they have to. I don't care if we lose those men. They aren't any good without their squad anyway." Maritime said. Her voice was impassive. She truly didn't care about those snoop troops. All she wanted was to protect Londinium against all odds and if that meant killing her own troops she'd gladly do that.

"Yes commander." Nick said, bowing his head in obedience.

"We'll need to stop those incoming ships. Do we have anti-naval weaponry?" Kale asked from beside Maritime.

"We do but I doubt it'll even crack the hull of those monsters." Maritime said, her hand clenching at the hilt of her sword.

"You can't know that until you try." Kale said amused, "Every ship has a weakness. We need to send someone out there to figure out the kinks in the ship." He further added.

"That snoop squad was my best and most of them are dead and probably decaying at the bottom of the sea." Maritime snarled back at.

"Yes and I'm sure none of them were trained to work at sea." He spat back.

"They were the best." She said her voice strangely placid.

"Well I'm going out there to figure it out for myself. So how about you keep those ships from making shore while I go and figure out the weak spot, what say?" he asked with a quirked eyebrow.

Maritime fell silent, considering what her brother had just said. She cared for Kale; after all he was her family and wanted him to stay safe. On the other hand protecting Londinium took precedence.

She nodded her approval as her words failed her. She was possibly sending her brother out to die but then again that's what demigods were meant for.

Kale flashed a half-hearted smile and squeezed her shoulder encouragingly, "I'll be back." He said and in a flash he turned on his heel and walked off the parapet to gather his cohort for the reconnaissance mission.

Maritime watched him go down the staircase. Her sight trailed him to the bottom of the flight from where he disappeared into the amassing hordes of soldiers who were taking positions at the gates and at the shooting galleys.

Losing sight of her brother she turned her attention to the oncoming armada and grew curious at what she saw.

Only three ships continued to sail towards the shore while the rest of the armada seemed to have dropped anchor several miles of the coast.

Did they underestimate us? Didn't they know of our strength? She thought to herself. Was the approaching enemy so confident in their strength? She wondered, but now was not the time to delve in thoughts and analysis. It was time to act.

She unsheathed her sword and pointed at the oncoming ships, "Prepare Cannons" she shouted.

As soon as she shouted the order, a conch horn blew from behind her alerting the guards to prepare the cannons.

Maritime looked for the perfect opportunity to fire. They had to slightly close in range so that the cannons could cause some serious damage. Firing them early could spell disaster.

She waited patiently, calculating in her mind the perfect time and moment to fire. She observed the ships carefully and opened herself up to the sea to look for guidance.

Every passing moment seemed longer than it actually was and not to mention painful. She was itching to fire at her oncoming enemies but she knew now was not the moment.

She focussed on the ships. The way the cut across the water, the foam at the helm of the ship and the rippling waters that it left in its wake; it was at that very moment she felt a familiar tug in her gut and she knew now was the moment. Without wasting a second she slashed her sword in thin air and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Fire!"

Before the conch horns blew to convey her command several cannoneers had already open fired providing cue to their other comrades.

With resounding explosions cannons after cannons fired at the approaching ships. The shots fired from the cannons left over a hundred green streaks across the grey northern sky as they sped to destroy the impending enemy. Spiked with Greek fire, the cannon balls that made contact with the surface exploded with a deafening sound, destroying whatever it hit reducing the advancing ships to large floating masses.

Such was the impact that even the sea seemed to be on fire. The cerulean water had turned a shade of sickening green, an after effect of the Greek fire.

The ships started spewing smoke and one of them had even begun to sink but Maritime took no risks.

Volley after volley of cannons were fired on her orders to obliterate the ships from the horizon. Following her orders to the last dot, the gun's men kept firing until the screen of smoke and the clod of ash completely blocked their vision of the impending ships.

Maritime raised her hand to halt the bombardment. It seemed that she had gone one step too far.

True she had seen the enemy ships being blown to smithereens but in that attempt they had blocked their own vision to judge the enemy's next move. Now, they were at a loss. They couldn't see anything past the screen of smoke.

She was sure that those ships were the harbingers of the attack which meant that they'd be carrying a large number of soldiers. Not all of those soldiers could have been killed during the bombardment and her gut told her that destroying those ships won't halt the enemy at bay. No, she'd have to activate the primary shoreline defences.

"Raise the Shields." She whispered to Nick who had made it back to her side a few moments ago.

Nick nodded and passed the order to one of the sub-captains. Mere moments later, the surface of the Londinium shoreline began to tear apart. Sand and rock began to fall through and into the deep chasm that was created due to the splitting of the surface. With a loud groaning sound, followed by effervescent grinding a large metallic wall began to emerge from the depths of the chasm that was created around the island that was home to the city of legacy.

Groaning and grumbling the wall began to climb out of the crevasse until it reached half the height of Londinium's wall. With a loud groan the wall stopped climbing further and stood resolute to defend the city against any approaching enemy.

Maritime sighed; the wall was built by Hephaestus on Poseidon's request several centuries ago and in return of the favour the populace of Londinium devoted a temple to him out of respect.

That wall was the foundation of their primary defence and was referred to as Vulcan's wall.

If the enemy was able to destroy the wall they'd be no stopping them as the secondary defences were only good enough to slow the invaders down. They were not designed to keep them out.

"Archers" Maritime shouted, calling to the first line of archers to stand at the front of the parapet overlooking the shore.

With quicksteps the yeomen took their place on the front and in synchronised motions they each drew an arrow from their quiver and mounted it on to their bows; aiming at nothing but nevertheless ready to fire at the first command.

The second line of archers stood behind the first line with their arrows drawn as well but only half mounted on their bows, lying in wait to replace their fallen comrades or to supply as a second volley if need be.

A third line of archers stood behind the second. Not particularly archers but swordsmen who had reasonably good aim. They however had their fists firm on the hilts of their swords waiting to hack down the invaders into bits and pieces.

With her eyes set on the clouded horizon, Maritime waited for the impending doom.

"Should I send out flyers to carry out an inspection?" Nick whispered to her.

Her attention focussed on the shoreline Maritime shook her head in denial, "I don't want to lose anymore Pegasi." She reasoned.

"Unfold the trebuchets." She said, "It's better to be prepared." She added as an afterthought.

Nick nodded and summoned one of the junior cohort commanders to carry out the orders.

Trebuchets were powerful siege weapons that had been improved by Londinium's siege engineers to carry out maximum damage. They no longer bore semblance to the medieval weapons they were named after.

Londinium's trebuchets were state of the art machines of war and were useful as long as the first line of defence stood their ground. However, this defensive planning was useless if they couldn't see what their enemies were up to.

She had to get rid of this smoke screen and there was only one way to do it.

Closing her eyes, she retreated her being into the protective place at the back of her mind. Serenity took over her conscious as it always did when she meditated. Once settled in her state of meditation she called out to her father to help her with her dilemma. She had never met her father nor had she ever spoken to him but he had. He had spoken to her in her dreams, whispered to her in her times of need. He had even sent her help when she was in dire need of help.

She had only been praying for a few minutes when she felt the familiar sea breeze on her physical self. He had answered her prayers once again. Thanking him, she retreated from her inert state and opened her eyes to view the horizon unfold before her.

As the smoke was blown away by the breeze, she saw that some of the debris from the ship had made land or rather come close enough to the shore line but not yet beached. She scoured the area for bodies of dead soldiers but no matter how closely she looked she couldn't find any.

She was, for the lack of a better word, befuddled. Here she had invested an entire garrison's supply of ammunition to destroy an enemy army and yet all she was debris from the ships. Any other person would have been happy to see the dead beach upon a shore but Maritime was annoyed at the lack of them.

She expected the calm blue waters to be red with blood but they were as clear as crystal.

"Something's not right." She whispered to Nick and as if she had said Ali Baba's magical words, at that very moment the water from the sea rose and parted before her creating a path from its dark, abyssal depths to Londinium's beach.

**[ A/N: Go to you tube and play Two Steps from Hell - Archangel. Here's the link watch?v=dJ-QLl5qjLg . I think it goes well with what you are about to read ahead ]**

Maritime's eyes widened with shock as contingent after contingent of warriors garbed in armour that was darker than night marched forward from the depths of the sea to the pristine white beaches of Londinium.

Fear gripped her tight but she was still in command of her senses. Finding the latent courage in her she drew her sword from the sheath and swung it towards the oncoming enemy legion.

"Fire all!" Maritime screamed at the top of her lungs. Her sword pointed at the approaching enemy.

Around her she heard the twang of bows indicative of the arrows that had been fired on her command. Hundreds of arrows marred the skyline, casting the grey sky in a dark shade. The wind carried them on its back to those whose death was written on the point of the arrow.

Hundreds of the approaching legion fell as they continued to march to the wall instead of raising their shield to protect themselves. Maritime was bewildered. It seemed as if they hadn't been taught how to defend themselves against a volley of fired arrows. Some however, raised their shields and took cover under them to protect themselves from the rain of arrows.

"Fire Again." She heard Nick command from beside her and within moments the archers on the walls fired another volley of arrows at the approaching forces to cull them at the base instead of dealing with them in the battle field.

Several hundred fell to the rain of arrows if not a thousand.

Those who escaped the rain of death were singled out by the guardsmen on the watchtowers and killed by the longbow men.

Soon, the white beach was painted a deep crimson from the blood of the fallen but the enemy didn't stop their approach. Cohort after cohort filed out of the separated columns of water from the depths of the North Sea. If she had to keep the enemy at bay she had to close their path.

In other words she had to drown them which meant she had to use her powers. It seemed to her that she could either die fighting on the battlefield or die trying to put the sea water back in its place and close the path. Given the choice she chose the former.

Tightening her grasp on the hilt of her sword, she ordered the archers to continue their fire until their quivers were empty. Like clockwork the archers drew arrows from their quivers, mounted them on their bows and propelled them towards the enemy ranks one after another. Almost every other arrow took down an enemy soldier but with passing volleys the enemy learnt and approached Vulcan's wall with their shields raised while the cohorts emerging from the sea advanced in the classic tortoise formation. With the first line of the contingent holding their shields out in the front while the following lines holding the shields above their heads. What was surprising was the improvement they had made on the tactic. It seemed that the warriors on the ends of the line were carrying two shields. One to cover the heads while the second to cover the sides.

Had Maritime not been their enemy she'd have applauded their tactic instead she grew worried at their ingenuity and cursed out loudly. Cussing, she growled loudly. If they had tricks up their sleeves so did she.

"Loosen the Trebuchets" She shouted at the top of her lungs. Her command was followed by the blaring of bugles that indicated the trebuchets to be fired and within seconds, with thunderous explosions Maritime saw several meteor shaped objects fly over her head and fall into the sea.

Steam billowed from the places where the meteors fell into the sea.

With a slight smile on her lips, Maritime brought the sword's blade to her forehead and closed her eyes, her lips moving quickly, chanting an inaudible spell and before the steam completely blew out water begin to rise from the sea in gentle swirling columns.

The swirling columns took the form of twisters that rose to the darkening sky lined with menacing grey storm clouds; Storm clouds that began to darken by the minute.

Lightening lanced through the sky followed by the growling of thunder. The wind howled through the corridors of the now empty city. The city who's people had now taken shelter in the bowels of the island.

The wind sang songs of war as it slapped the metallic armour of the warriors that stood in its path. The wind sang of their strength, conviction and sheer valour to stand resolute in the face of impending death or possible victory.

Nick Andrews, Second in Command of the 9th legion stood transfixed alongside his silent commander. The enemy seemed to have come to a stand still waiting for our next move. Those who had begun to scale Vulcan's wall had stopped midway. Truth be told, Nick was as unaware as to what was happening as anyone else. He didn't know what his commander had planned for the enemy but it seemed that he didn't have to wait any long for answers. For from within the sky reaching twisters emerged several gigantic Aqualadins.

Giant centaurs whose bodies seemed to be made of ice and water leaped forward from heart of the twisters with lancers secured under one arm and a shield in the other. Rallying together at one end of the shore they charged at the hordes of noir warriors, their lancers skewering the enemy and burning them to ash.

Under the weight of the hooves the soldiers of the enemy were trampled until one couldn't separate dust from ground bone and skin. Bucking and kicking the Aqualadins soon had the enemy on the back foot or at least prevented them from advancing further.

The enemy retreated behind the hulls of their destroyed ships seeking cover from the charging Aqualadins and to prevent a most painful death. The Aqualadins however retreated to form a single line of defence in front of Vulcan's Wall.

With their faces covered and shields raised in defence the Aqualadins stood like sentinels in our defence.

"We must prepare for combat. It seems that our enemy learns from its mistakes." Nick heard Maritime saying.

It took Nick a moment to realise that he stood at the forefront of the battle and was not an invisible witness to it.

"What do you mean?" he asked, perplexed at her words.

"It means that they'll learn to defend themselves against anything that we throw at them. No matter what tricks we have up our sleeves. No matter how many hundreds of them we have managed to kill. It has all been a learning exercise for them. We can't let it continue. We have to engage them in physical combat to prevent them from learning how to protect themselves against our other defences." Maritime said her voice calm although there was a slight hint of irritation.

Nick felt like applauding at his commander's ingenuity. She was a true strategist and there was no doubt that she was as ruthless as she was cunning.

"Order the 5th and 6th cohort of the 9th legion to setup a defensive formation at the main gates. Tell the Archers auxiliary to take their positions on the surrounding walls and guard towers." She said adrift.

"But I thought we were to engage them?" Nick asked incredulously.

She turned to face him with a smirk playing on her lips, "_We are_." She said, hinting at who was actually going to engage the enemy. At that very moment Nick's blood ran cold and it seemed that his knees would give way under his body.

A laugh escaped past Maritime's lips, "I meant the 1st cohort of the 9th legion, The Sea Storm cohort." She said punching him on the shoulders.

Nick sighed with relief and smacked himself on the back of his head and then beamed at his commander, "Let's do this." He said with a grin across his face.

Maritime nodded and put a hand on his shoulder as a gesture of camaraderie and confidence. Nick did the same.

"You aren't going without us." called out a person with a deep haunting voice.

Nick and Maritime turned to see who the voice belonged to and when they saw the person the both of them bore two completely different expressions.

Maritime's face lit with joy while Nick grimaced, untrusting of the Son of Thanatos.

Alec walked towards the commander and her second in command with another younger boy a few steps behind him. The boy shared a few features with Alec but he wasn't as handsome as the first born Son of Death.

"I hope you weren't too busy counting the dead?" Maritime said sarcastically.

"No, that's my brother's job." Alec said pointing at the boy behind him.

Another son of Thanatos, Nick thought. Now, that was surely not a good sign.

"This is James Steele, My brother and Second in command of the dealers of the Death. Introductions done, where do you want us?" Alec said drawing his twin swords from the scabbards that rested on his back.

Maritime smiled, "Just follow our lead" she said, winking at the son of Thanatos.

Exchanging a glance with Nick, she walked off the parapet to her cohort that stood in attention at the base of the wall awaiting her orders.

"I don't think it's wise to follow her lead." James said from behind his brother.

Alec shrugged, "We have no choice brother." He then turned to look at his sibling, "Muster the dealers of death. We are going to war." He said before he parted with his brother to join the commander of the 9th legion his raven black cloak billowing in the salty sea breeze.

James felt that something was off. Something was not right.

He turned his head to look out at the sea.

The black ships were anchored several miles away from the coast and for some reason they drew his attention. There was something aboard one of those ships that was responsible for the mess they were in but he couldn't out his finger on it. Hell! He wasn't even sure what he was doing in Londinium the first place. That too before an unheard of enemy attacked its coast. This was all very strange and what was stranger was Alec's growing concern for the daughter of Poseidon.

James failed to understand how a person as selfish as Alec could care for anyone else. It befuddled him to no end but his train of thought was put to an end as he felt a stinging pain on his index finger. He turned his head to look at Alec who was glaring at him from beside his latest conquest with his right hand in the air.

Cursing under his breath, James began to climb down the stairs calling to his cohort to line up along with the 9th legion's 1st cohort.

As James lined his cohort beside the Sea Storm cohort the main gates opened and the cohorts began to march out in perfect battle formation. Marching towards the enemy, James couldn't help but pray to his father and Lord Hades to spare him to see another sunrise for he had missed today's and with that though he pulled his sword and along with the other demigod warriors charged towards the hollow-eyed warriors wearing the shroud of darkness.

**A/N: Okay guys. Fanfiction has now made reviewing much easier. Just write down your comments in the text box below. I'm open to anonymous comments. All sorts of reviews are accepted whether it is appreciation, criticism or even flames.**

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	6. Cut through Me

**Cut through Me**

He looked at the scuffle taking place on Londinium's shore with a smile on his face. Lounging on his leather armchair he sipped from a goblet, swirling the wine in his mouth before swallowing it. That's how he liked his wine or had come to like it, recently.

Zeno was for the lack of a better term, impressed. He had never though that his first wave would be met with such resistance and ferocity. Poseidon's daughter had proved herself to be an excellent strategist.

True, that he had expected his forerunning ships to be bombarded but he had never thought that they'd be destroyed or for that matter blown to pieces. Yes, he was impressed that the commander had held fire long enough until the ships were right where she wanted them. Any sooner or later and the outcome would have been favourable to him but it seemed that she was a sound tactician and an even better leader.

At the thought of commander, his mind drifted to Elijah.

His lieutenant would be in a twist for now. Elijah wouldn't have expected such a sound and highly functional plan of evasion. Elijah would now have to come up with an idea to bring down the defensive wall created by Hephaestus in addition to the Fortification that surrounded Londinium.

Zeno's smile widened at the thought of Elijah's face contorted in frustration. The young lieutenant didn't do too well under pressure but as of now he had to prove himself or risk losing everything.

Taking another draught from his goblet, Zeno's attention reverted back to the battle on the shore of Londinium. The demigods were finally coming out to play against his soldiers. This was only going to get better, he thought his eyes lighting up like that of a child on Christmas day.

**oOoOoOoOo**

Maritime stood at the head of her cohort alongside her second in command and the commander of the most ruthless cohort. With Nick to her left and Alec to her right, she knew she had both her flanks covered and wouldn't need to look out for herself during the battle. She trusted Nick with her life and as far as Alec was concerned he would protect her so that she returned the favour on the battlefield.

With close to two hundred warriors behind her she drew her primary weapon from her back. Technically it was a cross between a scythe and a sword, or rather a scythe with a straight blade instead of the traditional curved blade.

As the gates opened to reveal the oncoming hordes of enemy warriors, Maritime lowered the visor of her helmet. Other female demigods usually cut their hair short so that their hair didn't prove to be a hindrance but Maritime no doubt was different. Instead of cutting her hair she had cut her helmet at the back through which she let her hair out which mingled with the extended blue-black plume of her helmet.

With her gaze fixed on the enemy that she saw through the vertical slits of her visor she charged through the gate at the impending enemy.

Running towards what could have been her death, she observed the enemy before her.

Garbed in light armour with an iron breastplate, the enemy warriors all wore helmets which were pitch black in colour. Their faces covered by black masks as well with no openings for the eyes to see from or the nose to breathe from. Under the armour each enemy warrior was well muscled and had the same light pale skin that resembled a marble like colour. She couldn't help but notice that all the warriors looked the same. Not only did they look the same they also moved the same way and it wasn't the way they walked or swept their hand through the hair.

No, she noticed the way they swung their sword. The way they threw their spears, counter-acted to blows and the way they parried an attack. Each movement was a mirror image of the comrade fighting alongside him. If Maritime had her mind clear before she entered the field of battle it was definitely clouded now.

As she cut through the shield of the first enemy soldier and drove her scythe through the warrior's chest she wondered where such a large army came from. They came from below the sea so that would mean Poseidon's realm but why would he attack a city of which he was a patron of? No, the underworld then but her mind crossed out that possibility as well.

She was fighting beefy, well-muscled and presumably dumb warriors. Hades had an army of un-dead warriors who all had died fighting in great battles, not to mention they were skeletal in appearance and he preferred them that way. So it seemed that her uncle was out of the picture as well but it was quite possible that her other uncle could have staged the attack but she burnt that though to ashes as she swung her sword at another warrior, driving her blade through his middle spilling his guts out on the floor.

Zeus could never have planned this. _After all he did leave his brains at Olympus._

It was then that she heard an arrow whiz pass her head. Turning on the spot she jumped into the air with full force, creating a haze of dust on the ground and as she fell back on her feet, she drew the twin swords from her back and like wind she blew through the enemy ranks like a ghost cutting and slashing warriors who either had their guard down or were otherwise not paying attention.

Dashing through the enemy ranks she soon realised that it was an endless column of soldiers, she was nearing the mouth of the ocean from where the enemy was spewing out from and it seemed to be never ending.

She cursed. She was tempted to go behind the enemy lines and see what lay beyond with her own eyes but her warriors looked to her and a prolonged absence from the battlefield wouldn't be healthy for their morale. Backtracking her decision, she made a upturn and silently began to run back through the shores.

She'd have teleported but then that'd mean wasting more energy. She'd rather take the long way home and cut some soldiers on the way back and with that thought, she cut the head of an unassuming soldier who bumped into her by mistake which sprayed her helmet with dark blood.

Not quite bothered, she slashed and hacked her way through the enemy hordes back to Vulcan's Wall where the cohorts were staging a defence and needed her help.

With a single thought and the familiar gut feeling she called the Aqualadins to clear a path for her through the enemy ranks all the way to Vulcan's wall.

The Aqualadins bound to her whims galloped and charged through the enemy formation and surrounded her. Like a destructive wave they swept through the enemy ranks killing all who came in their way and led the Sea princess to her warriors from behind the enemy lines, destroying them completely in the process.

The warriors had made short work of the enemy warriors and the Aqualadins had decimated a significant number as well. They possibly had a break of about three minutes before the enemy reformed their lines and formations and began their second assault.

"Don't you children of Poseidon tire of riding?" Alec asked walking towards me with his face smeared in blood, not his own.

"The blood robs of you of your looks, pretty boy." I said with an upward curved lip.

Chuckling, he cleaned his face with his sleeve and then came to stand by my side.

"If we survive today, I want another go." He said chuckling.

Considering his request, it hardly took me a moment to decide "Done" I said. Any other answer would have been plain stupid.

Those were my last words to him before the staggering enemy re-grouped and assembled into their defensive formations.

I looked over at the horizon past the menacing ships. There was a lot of time for night to fall and it seemed that this battle was not going to end anytime soon.

Readying myself for the onslaught I tightly gripped my sword in hand, "Bring it on" was all I said, albeit silently.

**oOoOoOoOo**

A soft set of feet gently echoed through the halls of Central Tower in Fort Olympus.

Katie Gardener, the daughter of Demeter preferred to walk barefoot. Why? Well so that she could remain in contact with the earth at all times.

Unlike other children of Demeter, Katie was blessed by her mother. She was the daughter that Persephone hadn't been. She insisted upon the importance of agriculture, of cereals and nature around them but in recent times her mother had been all but displeased particularly because Katie had chosen Hestia over her. Displeased was an understatement. Demeter was livid with anger when Katie didn't join her in Crete at Zeus' palace.

Her mother couldn't understand why she'd side with Hestia over her own mother but Katie didn't bother to give a reason and left Demeter fuming. In any other situation Demeter would have cursed Katie but in this scenario she knew that her daughter was under Hestia's protection. It wouldn't be wise to make her angry. Demeter was also having second thoughts on siding with Zeus and was considering joining her sister and brothers and it seemed that Katie knew of this.

The goddess hadn't told her anything but Katie knew that Demeter missed Persephone and bickering with Hades. If good sense prevailed she wouldn't have to stand against her mother for long.

Climbing up the spiralling staircase that led to the Crystal chambers of the council Katie soon reached the double doors beyond which lay her seat on the council.

The double doors were opened by two sentinels garbed in luminescent white armour.

Katie walked into the brightly lit council chamber where an all-out fight had broken out between Erida Psyche and Laura Lacour. Aaron Madonna wasn't standing far away and it seemed that he was itching to have a go at Erida as well.

The girls clashed swords with each other, each proficient in weapon skills as the other.

Katie had to restrain herself before giving into the temptation of binding them in the earth instead she called out to the vines from the stunted trees that were potted at the corner of the chambers to bind the girls and restrain them from attacking each other.

Like lightning the vines curled around both girls, drawing them apart and their swords fell to the ground with screeching metallic noises.

"Why may I ask are you fighting?" ash asked in her usual calm voice as the vines coiled tighter against the girls restricting all movement but leaving just enough space for them to breathe easily.

"Psyche tried to stage a coup in the Sentinel barracks last night." Shouted Aaron walking two steps forward and fell to his knee in a low bow before Katie as did the others.

She was the only elder present amongst them.

Nico, Will, Malcolm and Travis had all left Olympus on different missions and left her to preside over the functioning of the fort.

Katie pursed her lips and walked towards Erida. She looked her in the eye and asked, "Is this true?" her voice calm but deadly.

"He's lyi…" but her words were drowned in her own screams as the vines that coiled her grew three inch thorns. Screams continued to echo through the chamber and Katie was sure that the guards outside the doors as well as those on the lower floor heard them as well.

With a flick of her hand, the vines uncoiled and dropped Erida on the floor face forward. Blood from her wounds began to stain the pristine marble floor.

Katie however walked passed her body waving to the vines that held Laura to let her go. Laura landed on her feet but quickly fell on to her knee in a low bow as well.

Katie walked to the throne beside Nico on the pedestal and took her seat gesturing to the other councillors to take theirs which all of them did except Erida who seemed to have passed out from the pain on the floor.

Katie looked to Kyra Sawyer and then to Erida.

Understanding the silent message Kyra got up from her throne and walked to where Erida was lying so she could give her some nectar that would instantly seal her wounds and help replenish the blood.

"I hope everyone is in attendance" she said looking around, her voice calm again minus the deadliness.

She didn't want an answer. She just looked at the faces and counted in her head.

Except for Maritime and Alec everyone was in attendance. They had left a few hours before the other elders for Londinium, Maritime's home and command.

"Does anyone want to discuss anything?" Katie asked but before she could complete her sentence Aaron rose from his throne, "except for the attempt to coup." She said icily forcing him to take his seat.

Talen, Son of Zeus and her young cousin rose from his chair, "I would like to introduce a motion with your permission." He asked reverently.

"Permission granted." Katie said, allowing him to speak.

"I'd like to request this council to allow me to step down as the leader of my cohort." He said without stammering and in one single breath.

Nobody spoke for a long time but then after a few minutes of utter silence Katie spoke, "and why is it that you wish to step down from your position?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Talen's lips curved into a smile as he opened his mouth to answer, "I want to resign because I want to nominate myself as the commander of the Legion of Sentries."

Again his words were followed by silence and no one but Katie spoke, "Only the elders can decide on that. We'll lay the matter to rest until they return." She said, gesturing him to take his seat.

Her eyes then turned to Laura, "Any update on the Legion of Sentries?" she asked impassively.

Laura and Aaron simultaneously got up from their seats but only Laura spoke as only she had been permitted to, "We have successfully initiated five hundred soldiers into the legion Milady but we still await the warriors to come from the Londinium academy. Once they arrive we'll number close to a thousand." She said without any hesitation, straight and to the point but something else had already started to go on in Katie's mind.

"The warriors haven't arrived from Londinium you say? But they were supposed to be here this morning. Why didn't anyone inform me? I'd have spoken to Commander Tortelle instantly." Katie snapped back at them for withholding information instead of praising their efficiency at establishing the legion so quickly.

Laura and Aaron both quickly fell into a deep bow, "We are sorry Milady." They chorused together.

Katie considered their apology for a moment and then asked them to rise and take their seats, "I want you to come to the elders with the smallest of details regarding the Legion. Do you understand?" she asked in a rattling-cold voice.

They both remained silent but nodded to ensure that they had got the message loud and clear.

"Good" she said, "That'll be all" and with those words she got up from her throne to exit but alas it wasn't to be for at that very moment Katherine, the Council's Herald walked in to the crystal chamber and fell to her knees when she saw Katie in front of her.

"I'm sorry Milady for walking in without announcing myself. I thought…" Katherine stammered but Katie cut her through, "I wish you had. Now, what do you wish to convey to us?" Katie asked icily.

Without rising Katherine spoke, "We have gotten an urgent message from Londinium. It's under siege from an unknown enemy that seems to have an extensively large army. The message requests that we send them relief, Milady."

Silence followed Katherine's words.

"Prepare the executioners." She said, her orders directed to Aaron Madonna.

She then looked to James Lowell, who stood beside Talen, "Are the Thundering Pegasi ready to fight a battle?" she asked her gaze fixed on the fury-eyed Son of Mars.

With a slight bow in her direction he said, "We'll fly with the wind."

Katie acknowledged with a nod and then returned her attention to Katherine, "Rise Herald."

Scuffling, Katherine rose but she didn't raise her head.

"I have work for you. Go to Olympus and alert what remains of the council of our predicament. Take the fastest Pegasi along with a few guards. Make haste and report back to Connor Stoll if no other elder is present in Fort Olympus. He'll guide you and the council well." She said, her voice dignified but drilling.

She had never been a person to wield authority but the last few years had been hard on her. She had changed as a person. She was no longer the nature-enthusiast gardener that she once was. True, she still enjoyed it but it wasn't the same.

With a quick flick of a hand in James Lowell's direction and beckoned him forward, "Ask for Astria Di Cielo, Commander of the Masked Messiah to join us. It won't harm to have a child of Zeus at hand." She whispered to him so as to keep the exchange between them.

Again, James only nodded in acknowledgment and left the room to make preparation whereas Katie turned to her other councillors.

She looked at Kyra who was still tending to Erida, "Give her a potion that will suppress her dominating and destructive nature otherwise I'll have her cut into pieces and feed her to the vultures." Katie's voice was acid.

Her gaze then trained on to Aaron and Laura, "You to better get the Legion numbers running. I don't care if you have to send scouts to all over Africa and Asia. I want another one five hundred warriors joining the legion in less than a weak. Once I reach Londinium I'll send the warriors from there. Do I make myself clear?" She asked them, her voice wringing with authority.

Laura and Aaron simply nodded as well.

She then turned to her cousin, "Talen" she said in a relatively warm voice who bowed slightly.

"I want you to ask Connor Stoll to take his place as the rightful elder on this council in my absence. Can you do that?" she asked with an arched eyebrow.

"I will, Milady." Talen said with another slight bow.

"Good" that was all she said in reply as she turned on her heel and walked out of the crystal chambers leaving the others to heave a sigh of relief.

The young councillors felt that the Elder didn't hear them but they were wrong. Not only did she hear them she also chuckled to herself.

Nico was right, she thought to herself. Sometime it was important to use force and fear to get the work done. Making a mental note to herself she walked away to her room, smiling. No doubt to prepare herself for what she was about to find in Londinium.

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**A/N: Want to know what happens next? Review, coz i want to hear your thoughts on this chapter. I hope i'm not showing each and every one of them a little bit too evil.**

**Also I'd like to thank my reviewers.  
**

**Next Chapter: Meet Nick Scholz, Tzefira Landen, Noah Ellis and Jenn Ambers. The Second in Commands who take over the real Command and the battle to those out there.  
**

**REVIEWS and FEEDBACK, more than welcome.  
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	7. Heaven's Army

**Heaven's Army**

Never before had Olympus been so barren. Not at the time of the second titanomachy and neither at the time of the second Gigantomachy rather it was full to the brim during the wars with every god, godling, personification and nature spirit seeking asylum from the war-torn mortal world. However this time the scenario was completely different.

The residents of Olympus except for a selected few had fled Olympus seeking sanctuary and protection in other domains. The reason was simple. Olympus was no longer safe as war had been declared upon it.

The temples were empty and so were the gardens. The muses no longer sang songs of happiness, joy and those of victory but that of the impending doom and the pain in the mortal world. Frustrated, Apollo had personally banished them from Olympus.

Yes, Apollo was one of the few remaining residents of the Heavenly city. He along with his sister Artemis still served Hestia and by extension Olympus.

Walking down the stone street, Apollo made his way to the temple on the hill where convened the Council of Olympus or what was left of it. Despite the show of support and fealties sworn, not many minor gods were keen to help them protect Olympus. A majority of them had advised them to evacuate and establish another stronghold but Hestia had out rightly refused allowing the minor gods to do whatever they pleased but assuring them that she'd defend Olympus with her last breath.

Lost in thought, Apollo soon reached the stairs that wound their way up to the temple on top of the hill. Sighing, he decided to teleport rather than climb and in a flash of blinding light he found himself in the brightly lit Council room with Hestia's hearth burning in the centre and several thrones arranged around it in the form of a semi-circle.

Some of them were already filled and a few like Apollo's were empty. Apollo was glad that he wasn't the last to arrive and sniggered at the fact that his sister was running late as well.

Taking a seat on his gold gilded throne he respectfully nodded to Hestia who acknowledged his presence with a smile.

"The Sun has set late today Apollo." Hermes mocked from across the chamber where he was sitting between Athena and Hephaestus, a mischievous smile playing on his lips.

"However, the moon is yet to rise." Nemesis said, her eyes zeroed in on Hestia as if silently passing a message to her.

Artemis was never late and now of all times she should have been punctual, Apollo thought to himself but his thoughts didn't bother him for long because after a few minutes Artemis walked into the giant chamber wearing her regular hunting gear.

She wore a simple tunic that went to her knees accompanied with silver leggings that all her hunters wore. Barefoot as usual, Artemis left luminous footprints as she walked to her silver, fur lined throne next to Apollo.

"Welcome Artemis." Hestia said, greeting her warmly.

"I apologise for my tardiness. I was out recruiting hunters from Asia and Africa. You'd be glad to hear that the Hunters of Artemis are now one hundred and seventy seven warriors strong." Artemis said, beaming with pride.

Several other gods, especially Athena congratulated Artemis on her accomplishment but the voices soon died down as the court was called to order by Poseidon.

Rising from his throne beside Hestia, he opened his mouth to speak, "As you all know that in light of Zeus' exile Olympus has been left nearly defenceless. While the wind and air gods protect us from any being that might try and attack Olympus from the air it is also quintessential that we strengthen our defences."

Sharing a glance with Hestia he continued, "I'd now like to put to vote the motion to create an army of Olympus." With those few words he took his seat leaving the gods to discuss the motion amongst them.

"The motion is now open to debate, state your opinion on the presented motion." Hestia spoke from her throne at the head of the semicircle.

After several minutes Athena rose from her throne, "What's the need for an army of Olympus when we can ask Fort Olympus to supply us with cohorts to defend the city? I see no point what so ever in wasting energy and resources in creating an army when we could use the same power to find and thwart our hidden enemy." She said in a calm voice, her voice was that of reason but nonetheless as was tradition Poseidon rose from his throne to defend the motion.

"Fort Olympus and New Rome have more on their plate than they can handle. We cannot have them strain their resources any further. As it is they are having a tough time keeping together the warrior off spring of the Exiled Gods. No, we should not ask them to provide us with Cohorts." He shouted back at her.

"I agree with Poseidon. The Council is already stressed out due to the loss of all its senior councillors. My son and several others are on a search and rescue mission beyond the borders of the Underworld but they are yet to pass through the dominion of Erebus. For now they have failed to enter the Shadow region, which according to me as irksome." Hades said, somewhat irritated.

He didn't appreciate the fates putting his children in life-threatening situation. First Bianca, then Zeno, followed by a wounded Nico and Hazel. It seemed the fates had cursed his children. Why? He wished he knew the answer so that he could protect them from their miserable fate.

"I see no harm in creating an army for the purpose of defence." Hephaestus added with a grunt.

"I agree." Hermes piped in, a boyish smile caressing his face.

Apollo and Artemis were rapidly whispering, no doubt trying to come to a consensus.

Nemesis on the other hand backed Athena and advocated against creating the army. She believed that creating an army could be seen as a threat in the eyes of their allies as well and that they might begin to see as a dominating force.

Her voice was that of reason but she was outvoted by the Celestial twins as Apollo and Artemis decided to support their uncle on the creation of the army.

Hestia heard the opinion of every Olympian before she put the motion to vote, "All those in agreement, say Aye." She said, looking at the assembled Olympians.

Six hands rose in the air.

Poseidon, Hades, Hermes, Hephaestus, Apollo and Artemis; Hestia on the other hand decided to support her niece and the Chthonic deity.

"The Motion stands." Hestia said in a soft voice.

"How do we begin recruiting?" Hermes asked.

The gods shared glance with each other. All except Poseidon who's lips were curved in an upward smirk. His eyes trained on Apollo he parted his lips to speak, "What do you know about cloning Apollo?"

As soon as the words escaped Poseidon's mouth the entire room fell in pin-drop silence however the expressions on the face of each and every god spoke volumes but only Poseidon seemed happy about it but the happiness in his eyes soon turned to rage when he felt the sea surge within him, calling him to protect his dominion, his Londinium.

oOoOoOoOo

Swinging the sword over her head, Maritime cut an arrow in mid-air. Had she not done so, it would have gone through her head and killed her on the spot. Cursing under her breath, she swung her sword behind her, chopping of an enemy soldier's head half way with the blunt edge of her sword.

Taking the helmet of her fallen enemy, she spent a moment to observe his features.

Olive skinned boyish features and ebony hair; she noticed that he looked similar to all those warriors who she had cut down.

In many ways they looked like her youngest sibling Zac Jones, except for the fact that they didn't have his sea green eyes but she it seemed she had wasted enough time reminiscing as another enemy soldier charged at her with a battle axe. She sprung into the air above, back flipped and before she had her feet back on ground, the oncoming attacker was lying face forward in the sand with three daggers jutting out of his back, soaking the white sands a crimson red.

Not wasting time she decided against retrieving her daggers and flew to the enemy with a sword in each hand.

There was no way that she'd even let them enter her city. She'd die before the enemy stepped foot inside and with a vengeance she charged through the enemy, slashing and hacking all who came in her way.

oOoOoOoOo

Alec Blackwood wasn't pleased in the least.

He had come to Londinium with the aim to seduce the Daughter of Poseidon so that he could use her to achieve his own ends during the council sessions. He was aware of the influence she held over the other councillors especially her cousins who'd die protecting her rather than letting her down.

Nico might have been tough on her but he cared about her as much as he cared about Hazel.

To him they were both sisters and he'd kill anything that caused even the slightest of harm to them and that was the only reason that Alec had chosen to wait to make his move on Maritime. He didn't want Nico anywhere around them, the reason being that his mere presence wouldn't have allowed Alec to continue with his plan. Which was for all personal reasons yet to be fully chalked out? There was only one thing for certain, Maritime Tortelle.

As Alec slashed through an enemy soldier, parried the attack of another and ran a spear through the heart of the third, he realised that the daughter of Poseidon was a formidable warrior. She wasn't like the other demigoddesses. She was different. She was a warrior and there was no changing that.

Cutting across the face of a burly enemy warrior, Alec realised this was the first warrior who looked relatively different from the others. The rest were simply clones, but this one was different. He was better muscled, taller and had paler skin.

Not having much time to ponder over his thoughts, Alec soon resumed slashing at the enemy with his double edged stygian blade. Running his sword through several warriors his black armour was now covered with dark blood but it didn't seem to affect him in the least.

Drenched in blood and the putrefying remains of the enemy, anger took over Alec's mind. A dark energy began to radiate out of him. The shadows rose to engulf him in their midst. Swirling like a cloud at first, they soon formed a protective sphere around him.

Enemy warriors continued to approach and fire arrows at him but the sphere remained unaffected. Spinning around its axis the dark sphere soon gained enough momentum to explode and destroy everything and everyone around him. The Dealers of Death, knowing what was about to be thrown at them retreated to the far end of the battle arena dragging with them other legionaries who weren't aware of what was going to happen on the battle field in a matter of Seconds.

Maritime too had been caught midfield by James Steele and dragged back to the wall while his brother Alec remained in the middle of the field with the dark warriors surrounding him by the hundreds but it seemed their curiosity got the better of them for as soon as Maritime reached safety a loud explosion echoed across the island, raising a gale forced dust storm in its wake.

Hiding their faces from the billowing sands, the forces of Londinium looked away from the sight of explosion in order to avoid the sand from getting into their eyes and blinding them. With the sand storm billowing in their direction, Maritime was one of the first to unhide her face to see the sight unfurling before her.

She fell to the ground as fear gripped her.

Never in her life had she seen what she was seeing now. Although the sand clouds still partially blinded her vision, Maritime knew she didn't need her eyes to know what was happening before her.

Through the clouds of dust she saw a fast spinning, dark coloured sphere. With passing seconds the sphere seemed to elongate itself into a spindle until it finally came to rest.

Maritime's breath quickened. Though she had never seen anything like this before; she had read about. All those years ago, in Londinium's Sacred Archive she had seen panels that had depicted such a transformation, the transformation of a demigod into a monstrous immortal being.

Then, she had thought of it to be a myth. The extravagant imagination of an oracle or a chronicler but now with proof before her eyes she didn't know what else to believe. Her knees gave in as she fell to the sandy beach, her sword limp in her hand.

Seeing his commander fall to the ground, Nick quickly came to her side, "What's wrong Commander?" he asked, his voice quaking with fear for her. "Summon a Healer." He said over his shoulder to an attendant while he tried to break her out of her trance.

"Commander please, we can't give up now. Londinium needs us. It needs you." Nick continued to speak to her but Maritime failed to respond. Her eyes remain fixed on the spinning spindle of dark energy.

No one else noticed it, reason being no one was strong enough to realise what was happening but she knew what it was.

If the enemy didn't bring her city down then the monster surely would. No, she couldn't take the risk.

Strengthening her hold on the hilt of her sword, Maritime used her other arm to push away Nick. She then drove the blade vertically into the sand so that it may provide her with the support to stand on her own feet. Any other time, she wouldn't have needed to do so but now wasn't that time.

She needed every ounce of courage to raise her sword on the man who she had shared her bed with. For the first time in her life she cursed the fates as she dropped her broad sword and unsheathed the twin, double-edged blades that she carried on her back.

"Fall behind and seal the gates." Maritime whispered to Nick before she darted of too butcher the monster that hid behind the curtain of dust.

Focussed and relying on her senses completely she dashed through the billowing sand storm with her eyes closed. She couldn't bear to look at him in his monstrous form which she knew he'd have taken by now.

For all she knew, his mortal flesh would have all but burned away, leaving behind nothing else but a mutated monstrosity with a demonic soul.

She opened herself, allowing the warrior within to find its enemy.

Abruptly, she came to a halt. Swinging her sword above her head she cartwheeled to avoid a blade that'd have cut her in half. She then flipped backwards to avoid another forward thrust which she knew would be followed by a swing from the left.

Not even seconds into the battle and she was already on the defensive. This was not how she had planned to end it rather nothing was going as she had planned.

The monster seemed to be in full control of itself and seemed to have a plan of its own while the inscriptions that she had read clearly stated that the demigod lost all sense of humanity and the ability to think with it.

Opening her eyes she took in the figure standing before her.

Standing before her was a man robed in black. A hint of silver revealed the armour he wore beneath his robes. Dark haired, pale skinned and shining grey eyes the warrior seemed to resemble all those other enemy soldiers that she had cut down throughout the day.

With a smile across his face, he parted his lips to speak, "Finally, I get to meet the Commander of the Allied Forces of Londinium. I'd like to commend you for obliterating my entire legion." He spoke the words without even a hint of remorse.

His voice was devoid of all emotion. So cold, that it was chilling to the bone.

"Who are you?" Maritime asked, raising her sword to his chest.

His smile widened and the light in his eyes brightened, "I apologise." The man said, taking a step in her direction, "How absurd of me to not introduce myself formally?" He added, slightly bowing his head in reverence.

Raising his head he then said, "Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Elijah of the Hose of Gabriel, commander of the erstwhile 2nd legion of Destruction and _leader of Vanguard of Might_" , and as if on command twelve robed warriors with their faces hidden behind cowls surrounded Elijah and Maritime, forming a tight circle around them.

Not removing her gaze from him and knowing that she was surrounded from all sides, Maritime asked, "Why have you come here? What's your purpose?" her voice confident, although her knees could give into her fear at any time.

Surrounded from all sides, she knew her chances of survival were slim but she be damned if she didn't die fighting.

Elijah smiled his trademark smirk, "You have courage" He said beginning to pace around her, "but then that is to be expected of a daughter of Poseidon." He further added.

Coming to a halt, he looked directly into her eyes, "As for my purpose to pay a visit to the City of Legacy, well let's just say that I have come to raze it and you along with it." The last few words Elijah drew into a hiss as he disappeared out of sight.

The twelve warriors surrounding Maritime blurred into each other creating a black wall of shadow and thus imprisoning her.

Maritime's body quaked with fear. It had been foolish of her to send her troops back and come out to face the enemy alone.

She fell on to her knees her sword limp in her hand.

Her valour had broken and so had her confidence in herself.

She had lost and now she only wished for a swift and honourable death but it seemed fate had a different moment for at the very moment, she heard the swishing of arrows past her ears, arrows that could only have been fired so precisely by either the children of Apollo or the hunter of Artemis.

Before she could raise her head to look for them, rays from the sun graced her body spreading within her warmth that she had never felt before. She felt her courage return, with every passing moment her conviction forced her to tighten her grip on the hilt of her sword and lash out at those who were holding her captive.

With returned courage and screaming at the top of her lungs she called out for the strength of the ocean. She was the daughter of Poseidon, all else be damned.

Manic energy flowed throughout her body as the sea responded to her call in the form of fifty foot, swirling column of seawater, pulling apart the warriors that hade her surrounded.

Maritime's eyes glowed aqua blue as she watched the warriors being ripped to pieces by the force of the ocean. She had given in to her latent monster. A monster that was divine and not human. She no longer felt pain, just the energy that coursed through her body but she wasn't the one to give into it and although she was no longer human, there was humanity left in her.

She began to restrain the energy that flowed freely through her and sent the ocean back to its place.

It wasn't long before she found herself on the wet, sandy beach but she wasn't alone.

"Impressive." said someone from behind her.

Maritime didn't even bother to turn. She knew the voice all too well.

"I now understand what you did back then Alec." She said, with a faint smile.

"You do?" asked another voice, but this wasn't unfamiliar either and before she knew it Elijah materialised in front of her.

"I must say I'm impressed as well" he said his hand outstretched with which materialized his weapon, a metallic rod with widening ends on both sides, "but I'm sorry to say a good impression won't save you from my hands." And with those final words Elijah raised his weapon to attack but stopped mid step.

His eyes widened with fear as he saw the demigods change before him.

Radiating power through and through, Alec and Maritime's mortal human skin burned off their body to reveal metallic exoskeletons that covered their body like skin. Shining like metal the skin seemed to have been moulded over their body with their eyes shining a respective glistening and black and aqua blue.

For the lack of a better term Elijah was scared.

He expected to fight mortal demigods but this he was unprepared for but he didn't get another chance to attack as a volley of arrows was launched over him.

Looking to the sky he saw the army of Pegasi descending on the shore along with several demigod warriors.

Not knowing what to so Elijah vanished into thin air leaving behind the two demigods who had stepped into new life, a life that was vaguely human but divine for certain.

Katie Gardener swept off from her chestnut Pegasus to meet the two demigods standing before her.

She had witnessed their change from human to meta-divine and was now witnessing them change back to their human form.

On either side of her stood, Astria di Cielo and James Lowell, the Council elders she had brought with her to drive the enemy back.

"Astria, take the executioners and check for survivors. Kill any remaining enemy and mortally wounded soldier of ours. We don't have the time to waste on healing soldiers."

The daughter of Zeus stepped back and drawing her sword beckoned a couple of Executioners to follow her and carry out a sweep of the area.

"James, ask your cohort to monitor the city from air and carry out interference protocols against the approaching enemy." Katie said, slightly turning her head in James' direction.

James turned on his heel and walked back to his own Pegasus. Taking the reins in his hand he soon took to the air to join the rest of his cohort and began circling Londinium with his cohort.

Once Katie was satisfied that she was alone with Alec and Maritime she gave them a hard look and said, "I want a war council now." And with those words she walked past them and through the Northern gate and into the city.

Maritime shared one last look with Alec before she too followed in Katie's footsteps with Alec on her heel.

It seemed that they had one the battle but the dark ships were still on the horizon, marring the brightly lit seascape with their hideous forms.

oOoOoOoOo

Zeno stood at the helm of the flagship with his other two lieutenants, Cain and Benjamin on either side. Elijah was at his feet begging for mercy.

"I don't forgive Elijah." Zeno said in a high and cold voice, kicking Elijah away from him and over the ship.

Zeno turned to walk back to his quarters but before that stopped to speak with Cain, "I want you to take the 6th Legion of Massacre and 9th Legion of Demolition tomorrow morning. I'd have asked you to do that now but the sun has set and we must follow the standard war protocols. Take Elijah with you. Give him a chance to redeem himself." And with those final words Zeno walked away with Benjamin walking beside him.

Cain stood at the helm for a long time, waiting in anticipation to lead the attack on Londinium unlike Elijah he wasn't the one to witness a battle and give orders from the side-lines.

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**A/N: Review guys. I'm hoping to get the review count to at least 50 on this chapter. Please give lots of feedback it motivates me to write further more.**

**and yes, thanks to those who reviewed the previous chapters. Continue giving me your support.  
**


	8. War Council

**War Council**

With the stride of a war master Katie walked into the war room in Londinium's Military Headquarters.

Seeing her, the gathered commanders and officers respectfully bowed and kept their heads down until she took her throne at the head of the room.

Alec Blackwood and Maritime Tortelle stood together on the right side of her throne while their second in commands James Steele and Nick Andrews respectfully stood towards the left. Maritime's brother Kale had returned quite a while back, from his espionage along with his cohort however he had lost six warriors during the bombardment while the rest escaped with few injuries to continue their mission.

Beside Kale stood his second in command Jenn Ambers, daughter of Trivia and possibly the best spy in town. She had the rare ability to shadow walk which allowed her to become one with the darkness and shadows. This ability provided her the perfect guise to carry out dangerous missions and assignments but nothing compared to her most recent underwater mission.

It was unlike any other she had ever been on. True she had been underwater for long durations but this was her first active underwater mission. Shaken by the memories of the abyss, it had taken several draughts of the calming potion, for her to regain her composure.

It had been a taxing morning and the sea couldn't have been more menacing. Still, they had managed to carry out the scouting mission through the plethora of debris falling from the razed ships and littering the sea floor and although they had previously prepared themselves for such a scenario they had still lost warriors, warriors who were yet to be cremated.

Jenn saw Councillor Katie Gardener take to the iron throne, a hard expression on her face. She looked around the war room taking in the face of each and every warrior present. They weren't that many of us, roughly thirty of us were present in the room of which twenty were officers from Londinium's legions.

Looking about, her eyes came to rest on Alec and Maritime both of whom were being looked upon as war heroes although the war was still to end.

"Blackwood, Maritime; it's high time I hear about the situation from you two." Katie said her voice cold and crisp.

Alec shared a glance with Maritime before he raised his head to look Katie in the eye and speak, "We are sorry Lady Katie but we only know so much about the enemy as any other warrior fighting on the front line."

Katie wasn't satisfied and it was evident from her body language as she balled her hands into fists.

"So you are trying to say that you went to war with an enemy you hardy know?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, "that was highly foolish of you." She added after an uncomfortable pause.

She then removed her gaze from Alec only to refocus it on Maritime, "Commander Tortelle, I assume you'd like to take full responsibility of the situation?" Katie asked in a sickly sweet but venomous voice.

Her head still bowed, Maritime answered her "The loss of every life is on the hands of the Commander. Surely you know that Madam Councillor?"

It wasn't the reply Katie was expecting but never the less she had been able to cut into their hearts and that's what mattered more.

The war room delved into silence, Katie had closed her eyes and was already deep in thought trying to figure out a plan to defeat the enemy. From where she saw, it was a difficult feat and the commanders hadn't made the situation any easier. It seemed that they had already used some of the most powerful defences that Londinium had to offer thus helping the enemy in turn.

Defence, sometimes offence is the best defence but then they were out of choices. She couldn't execute an offence that'd leave them defenceless in the long run. No, she'd have to play this very carefully.

"I believe you sent a team for reconnaissance team." Katie said with her eyes shut.

"We did" Maritime promptly replied, "My brother and his 2nd in command led an underwater reconnaissance mission."

Opening her eyes, Katie found the only other demigod with sea-green eyes and bearing a commander's uniform.

"You are Kale Elmwood and Jenn Ambers, if I'm not wrong?" Katie asked, her eyebrow arched in question.

The two commanders of the Scarlet Vipers stepped forward with hard expressions on their face.

"Tell us what you saw." Katie ordered her voice impassive.

Sharing a glance with her commander, Jenn Ambers stepped forward and looked the Councillor in the eye. Contemplating what to say, she breathed deeply before she began to speak, "We were approaching the ships on our hippocampi when the bombardment started. Commander Tortelle was right in her judgement when she bombarded the ships for if they managed to beach they'd have broken through Vulcan's wall easily."

"And why is that?" Katie asked sharply.

With acid on her tongue, Jenn managed to keep her cool before replying, "There were several hundred Hyperborean and Netamoric giants on the ships. All of which sank to the bottom of the sea. Those that tried to swim ashore were killed by us. To be honest we couldn't carry out our mission because we spent way too much time killing the giants but we did manage to recover some information." Jenn paused on the last word, waiting for Katie to ask her to continue.

"And what might this sensitive information be?" Katie asked with an upward curled lip.

"The warriors that the legions were fighting against can breathe under water." Jenn said simply, but it seemed there was more to that statement.

"Tell us something we don't know." Katie said, sounding bored.

"They are all telepathically linked clones. They share the same mind. You can say that they are the living example of multiple bodies but a single soul." Jenn supplied with a smirk, firm on her face.

Katie on the other hand was shocked. She didn't have anything to say, her mind seemed to have stop working. No, it was working but it kept on repeating the Daughter of Trivia's last few statements.

"How do you know this?" Katie asked, her voice stuttering. She seemed to have lost her composure at the mention of the word, clones.

Jenn shared another glance with her commander, who averted her gaze and began to look at his feet, "It's more of an assumption but I think it is safe to assume that's what it is." Jenn said, confident of her observation and the inference that she had drawn.

"Do you have an observation to support your assumption?" Katie asked with a slight hesitance in her voice. Maritime observed that for a councillor she wasn't good with controlling her emotions under adverse situations.

"None that can affirm it for sure" Jenn said her voice placid.

Katie however beckoned her to go on.

Breathing deeply she started speaking; "During hand to hand combat a few of the warriors used their signature moves to kill the enemy. Taking my example, I used a move which was taught to me by my commander" she said sending a sideways glance to Kale Elmwood, "It's called the serpent slash." She said returning her attention to Katie, "I used it a few times on some of the soldiers when we came ashore however after fighting several of those warriors they started countering my attacks. Initially none of them countered the attacks and were killed easily, however the warriors soon started countering the attack but not completely and were also killed but then later a set of warriors came completely prepared to counter the attack and we had to adopt new techniques and battle strategies to kill them with."

A silence took over the chamber as soon as Jenn stopped speaking.

"I believe this situation can be easily overcome." Katie said after intense contemplation and several minutes of silence.

The other commanders and captains on the war council were quiet. They were anxiously waiting for what she had to say, "The remedy is simple, don't use the same move over and over again. This way you'll kill more of them and they'll take more time to learn how to counter act. Also combine two or more techniques… It'll help." Katie said without giving another thought.

All round the chambers the captains and the commanders nodded.

"Good" said the Councillor, "Now we need to plan another reconnaissance mission."

She turned to face Kale and Jenn, "Both of you get on it right now. When you are ready we'll provide a distraction. Go and plan it out now, take the best with you." She said before she waved them off along with the rest of the low ranking commanders.

The Commanders all bowed and left the room in two files leaving behind Maritime Tortelle, Alec Blackwood, Astria Di Cielo, Tzefira Landen, James Steel and Nick Andrews.

Taking a seat Katie first called forth the daughter of Aeolus, "Tzefira, come forward."

The blonde haired, cleared eyes daughter of Aeolus stepped forward. Garbed in white metal armour, she looked a warrior of her father's realm in every sense.

"Do we have the force to counter any air-borne attacks?" Katie asked. She was hesitant to hear the answer. She probably knew it herself but she wanted to confirm it from someone else.

"If we remain close to shore, we stand a chance. Otherwise we do not." Tzefira said, not beating round the bush.

Katie nodded, "Good, do that. I don't want to deal with air-borne attacks while I'm fighting the enemy on ground. If you need more support get it." Katie ordered her voice clear and sharp.

Tzefira nodded in acknowledgement.

Katie then looked to Maritime, "How many wings do you have commander?"

Maritime looked to Nick for an answer for she didn't know. Nick on the other hand was quick to make amends.

"We keep a hundred Pegasi mounted warriors Councillor and we can get the flying academy to loan us more. It won't be a problem." Nick said, not faltering one bit.

"Do you fly?" Katie asked with her eyebrow arched in question.

"Yes, I do." Nick answered, without thinking twice.

"Take Commander Tzefira with you and co-ordinate with her. I want the plans drawn up three hours before day breaks." Katie said, motioning them to go and get cracking.

As Tzefira and Nick were walking out the door she asked Tzefira to send in James and tell him that he was needed much more on ground.

Katie then turned to face the three remaining Commanders, representing the three dominions of the big three. Maritime and Astria were representing their fathers who were also the kings of their domains but Alec was a Son of Thanatos, he was nowhere close to being a son of Hades but the power he bore did speak volumes.

"Commander Tortelle and Blackwood, I would like you to tell me more about your new dimension of power." Katie said, leaving the two commanders in a precarious situation where they were left exchanging anxious glances with each other.

Katie knew this could be the make or break of this battle. If they were able to figure out how to take control of their divine side without losing their sanity then they were unstoppable but she also knew that divinity came at a price.

"I want to know, NOW" she said, re-affirming her command. She wanted to make sure to tell them who was boss and as a matter of fact, It simply wasn't them.

**A/N: Well it's been a long time. I sure wouldn't mind a review or two. It'd help me get this story forward guys.**


	9. Revenge is a must

**Revenge is a must  
**

A lone figure walked along the dark corridors of the silent ship, his cloak billowing in his wake. As the figure made his way to the ship's deck another tall figure joined him.

"I believe I'm to join you during this battle." The new figure asked.

"Yes, you are." said the other person in a deadpan voice.

"Well, I'm sure I'd be of assistance. After all I have already fought them once." The tall figure spoke up, his pride evident.

"You think too highly of yourself Elijah." Said Cain, Gabriel's second in command. Cain then lowered his cowl as he walked on to the deck where his guard and Pegasi awaited him.

"I don't think highly of myself Cain." Elijah sought to amend but it was too late Cain had already prepared a comeback, "Really? Do you pride yourself in losing a battle Elijah? I think not." Cain spoke loudly enough for all to hear which led his guard to break into silent laughs.

Elijah was about to counter when Cain raised his palm towards him, "Save your vigour for the battle field." And with those words he mounted his steed and took to the air, his guard following close behind him; leaving behind a seething Elijah.

"I swear I'll get back to you for this Cain." Elijah cursed as he mounted his own steed. Taking the reins a little too tightly he jerked the Pegasi to take to the air but instead of flying with Cain and his guards he returned to his own ship waiting to be called by Cain or his master, whenever the need arose. Till then he'd sit back and take in the sights of war.

* * *

Alec Blackwood stood with his half-brother James Steele in the war room looking over the battle strategies. The other three commanders were for the lack of a better term absent.

They were taking an hour or two of rest after hours of drawing and setting up of battle plans. The Thanatos brothers however were a completely different piece of work. They didn't rest, sleep, eat, drink or f*ck around till the mission was over. They didn't believe in making merry before the battle was up but then they hardly ever did.

Times when they had fun was rare, so rare that one could only keep track of it using the journals in the archives of Fort Olympus.

"Do you think we'll survive this war?" James asked in his husky voice, his eyes not moving from the battle plans for the next day.

Alec looked to his brother, slightly amused but overall curious. He didn't know his brother to be afraid but as of now he could feel the tad bit of anxiety that his brother gave off.

"I didn't know we were back on speaking terms?" Alec asked, with a half-cock smile lighting his face.

"We are for now. It wouldn't do for the commanders of a cohort to lack communication." said James, his comeback sharp enough to pierce through Alec's armour.

Alec's smile widened. It was true that his brother had not been speaking to him but then again he was his brother and if he knew James well enough. Alec knew James would come around sooner or later. There bond was deeper than that of half-brothers.

"You still haven't answered my question Alec." James said, not removing his gaze from the battle plans.

Alec sighed; he then took a deep breath before finally answering James' query, "I guess we have a shot." Alec said.

For the first time in hours, James looked up to see his brother eye to eye, "What in the hell is that supposed to mean?" James asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Alec smiled, before he took a seat and gestured James to do the same.

"You know that demigods are partly divine, don't you?" Alec asked James, a smirk playing on his lips.

James remained silent but his irises widened. He knew what his brother was talking about but he didn't know if it was possible.

"I see you realise where this conversation is headed." Alec asked, quirking his eyebrow and winking at his brother.

James on the other had looked overwhelmed but Alec didn't seem to give two hoots.

"Do you want to know how to control your divine self without going insane?" Alec asked James, to which he simply nodded.

Alec smiled before he leaned in to whisper the secret of transformation in James ear and as Alec explained to him each and every detail, goose bumps began to erupt over the body of the younger son of the Thanatos.

He now knew how his brother had managed to garner so much power. How he had survived so long in the underworld. James now knew of the source behind power that seemed to simply radiate from Alec when he fought on the battle plain.

And as the light from the candle flickered, Alec not only taught his brother to master his inner god but also to control it. For three consecutive hours the brothers practiced but it wasn't till the break of dawn that James truly mastered the skill and that was when they had to abruptly end the training session for at that very time the Daughter of Zeus walked into the war room, her armour on her person along with a spear and shield.

She had braided her midnight blue tresses to keep them from interfering during battle. Her electric blue eyes cackling with lightening, Astria left static in the air as she walked across the room to the Thanatos brothers.

"Looks like you didn't sleep all night." Astria said her words more of a statement than a question.

"No, we didn't." said Alec hiding a yawn behind his hands. Beside him James got up from the table and walked out of the room, probably to freshen himself. As soon as he walked out, Astria took James' seat opposite Alec.

"What is it Alec? You seem tense to me." Astria asked the commander of death dealers.

Alec shrugged, waving off her concern as if it was nothing.

Astria was about to pursue when another voice cut her off, "You are wasting time Astria." Said Maritime entering the war room, dressed in full battle regalia.

"Mari, you are up sooner than I expected." Astria said, getting up from her chair to go and give her cousin a hug which Maritime warmly returned.

"Honestly, I _couldn't _sleep." said Maritime, her eyes darting towards Alec for the smallest fraction of a second which he returned with a playful smirk. She didn't give Astria the opportunity to notice the slight exchange that she shared with the death dealer.

"I can understand." Piped in Astria, "It's tough for all of us to lose warriors." She added with a tone of humility.

"It is." Maritime said, her mind drifting to the faces of her fallen warriors. Some of them very young, some hadn't reached the age of sixteen but due to their fighting ability and battle prowess they had been inducted earlier than usual.

One particular face, that of a girl came to Maritime's mind. A beautiful, heart shaped face framed with enigmatic blue eyes and a million dollar smile. It was a no brainer that she was a daughter of Aphrodite but anyone would have second thoughts when they saw her in fighting on the battle field.

She felt her eyes water at the thought of her fallen comrades, but she didn't let any tears run down. No, that'd be an insult to their memory she thought to herself. They'd given their life to protect their home and the homes of those they loved.

No, she wouldn't cry.

"Is that a tear?" She heard a familiar seductive voice ask from beside her.

Just what she needed, a smile came up on Maritime's face but she tried her best not to show it. After all, they weren't alone.

"Nope, and even if it is, I don't understand how in the name of hell does it matter to you" barked Astria, holding up her cousin's fort completely unaware of the silent conversation between the two commanders.

Alec raised both arms in surrender before he left for the armoury to check on his shied bracers and flight greaves. The Shield bracers were standard implements but the flight greaves were fairly new in the market and had extremely high utility as they provided six hours of flight time to the wearer along with enhanced agility and improved footwork.

"He's cute you know?" Astria whispered in Maritime's ear, not willing Alec to hair her views on him.

Maritime simply smiled, refraining from making a comment. She simply didn't want to break her sister's heart and decided to keep mum on the topic. Luckily for her another of the commanders walked in, James Lowell, the in house scumbag… well at least when he was being one. His attitude and personality had simply changed for the worse after he lost the one he loved the most.

It was actually a sad sight, but then demigods had short life spans which meant even shorter relationships. Some had accepted the hard truth and had made a mental note to not fall in love, others weren't so lucky.

"Morning James, you slept okay?" Maritime asked the son of Mars. James simply nodded and without another word took his seat on the conference table which was at the other end of the room.

Maritime sighed, only to be pinched by Astria, "What the…?" Maritime began, but before she could complete the sentence, Astria dragged her out.

"What's the matter with you?" Maritime scoffed, yanking away Astria's restraining hand from her arm.

"Me, what's the matter with you?" Astria asked.

"What are you on about _Sparkles_?" Maritime asked calling Astria by her much detested nickname.

Astria huffed, but didn't let it get to her, "It's simple. I don't trust him anymore." She said, in a grave and serious tone. One that even Maritime couldn't laugh off even though she wanted to.

James was one of the most loyal demigods that Fort Olympus had but then so was Astria.

"What reason do you have to not trust him?" Maritime asked in a low and hesitant voice.

Astria shrugged, biting her lip she stared at Maritime for quite a while before she a look of defeat came on her face, "Can't you just take my word? This might sound crazy, I don't have a reason but I can feel it in my bones. He's not the same." said Astria, her words more of a plea than that of reason.

Maritime's face on the other had grew hard, she narrowed her eyes at her cousin "I can't believe you. Poor guy is going through a hard time and you are out here spreading rumours, you are so better than that…" and on that final comment Maritime walked off leaving behind a pained Astria in an empty and dimly lit corridor.

Astria continued to stand out in the hallway, contemplating what she had just said. Did she really feel unsettled by James' presence? The answer to that was a definite _yes._

She didn't even need to question when she started having doubts about him, like clockwork her mind warped back to the night she went to the Garden of Artemis to pay homage. It had been the night after Hestia had taken over Olympus from her father. The reason she had gone to pay homage was because she was still in two minds if she should support her father or be loyal to Olympus and although she had made her decision she wanted to share it with her divine sister.

Walking through the path in the sacred forest lined on both sides by jasmine bushes, her sacred flower. Intermittent with those bushes were those of white lilies and white roses.

She could see the marble silhouette of the temple, towering over the canopy of trees.

She must have been stone throw away when she heard his deep baritone, "How can you forget me?" said a man, his voice familiar but it was much too loud and pained to identify. She then heard a whimper, followed by the sound of crying. Walking as silently as she could, she made her way to the source of the noise.

In a small clearing, surrounded on all sides by Laurel trees stood two figures, rather one was on his knees with his head in his hands and before him stood a young woman with a tear streaked face.

"I'm sorry." The girl whimpered, "I don't remember you. How can I, when I have never met you?" she continued, the girl too was in pain but it was different from that of the boy.

"Then why do you cry?" he said grasping her by the arms and bringing her down on her knees beside him, "Why are you crying for someone you don't even know? Don't you feel it within you? Don't you know how much I love you?" the boy shouted, his voice hoarse from crying.

"Please, Please let me go. You are hurting…" she whimpered, resisting against his grasp.

"No, you have to remember me. You're a vestal you can't go until you answer my question." He said, tightening his grasp and moving closer to her. His eyes boring into hers, "Please Alyssa, I love you. Come back to me" and with those words he let her go.

Taking the opportunity, the girl got on to her feet and in a flash of fire she disappeared leaving behind the aggrieved warrior, crying his eyes out.

Astria knew who he was, she'd have had a hard time guessing since she didn't know him personally but she had heard about them. Alyssa and James the demigod couple who loved each other to no end. Astria found herself perplexed, as far as she knew Alyssa had died recently but it was also true that there had been no news of her cremation.

Then it struck her, James had called her a vestal, an immortal priestess of Hestia. That could explain a lot of things, her survival being one of them. Sighing, Astria decided to gives James some privacy. She had turned her back to find her way back to Artemis' shrine when she heard him growl and scream to the skies, "I'll have my vengeance. You took away the one I loved with all my heart. I'd take away everything from you." Astria whirled on the spot to see James, for she could hardly believe what he had said but it was too late, he'd already walked away.

"Lost in thought, I see." said a smooth voice from beside her, bringing her back to reality. Astria knew the voice, "Alec" she purred, narrowing her eyes as she turned to look at him. He had changed the regular battle armour for the more traditional, light weight armour pitch black of the Death Dealers.

"Ready to kill are you?" she asked the devious object of her desire.

Alec laughed, giving her a wink and one of his smiles he left her be and made his way to the war room.

Astria saw him walk to the war room, his gaze trailing him till he disappeared from sight.

Heaving a sigh, she hit herself on the head and as she walked to the war room to join the other commanders she prayed to Hestia, "I hope you'll look out for us, because if you don't, the way they tell us how yesterday's battle went we are going to surely lose." She didn't know if Hestia heard her pray or not, but what she did know was that she was in for the battle of her life.

* * *

**A/N: Do leave a review guys and thanks to all those who have reviewed so far. This chapter is for all those who have reviewed so far, and i hope you'll continue to motivate me. Kittyhawk: there's more of Jenn in the next chapter, i'm glad you liked the way i wrote her.  
**


	10. Songs of War

**Songs of War**

Braiding her long dark hair, Katie stared at herself in the mirror.

If anyone would have told her eight years ago that she'd be on a council that led thousands of demigods across the world along with being a commander of said demigods she'd have laughed at them on their face.

But now… things were different. She hadn't even realised how these eight years had gone by. She along with others who had served in the war against the Titans and later the Giants seemed to have simply given their life away so that others could live theirs.

There were times when she was jealous of demigod couples, especially those with children. Then there were times when she thanked the gods for not blessing her with a child. She wasn't sure if she could give time to a child. She wasn't even sure if Travis wanted to have children, let alone marry her. True he loved her with all her heart but their lives had been such a whirlwind over the years that time had simply gone by and it hadn't waited for them.

At that very moment Katie closed her eyes. This wasn't the right time to dwell on such thoughts. Her time wasn't her own.

Breathing deeply, she completed braiding her hair. She then strapped on her armour and clasped an indigo green cloak on to the breastplate.

Strapping the sheath to her belt, Katie picked up her sword and ran her hand down both edges before she sheathed it and left the room, escorted by two demigods on each side.

As she walked through the corridors of Londinium's central palace, she heard the sound of battle horns filling the air. It was time to act.

"Prepare my Pegasus." She said to the guard on her right.

As soon as she gave the order, the guard sprinted before them, disappearing from sight in a matter of seconds.

"Aaron" said Katie looking to her left, attracting the attention of the Son of Hermes.

"Yes, my lady." said the Executioner gently and with much reverence in his voice.

"I want you to prepare all Sentinels to go to battle with me. I'm not taking charge of any cohort from Londinium or Fort Olympus. I'd rather fight alongside the Sentinels." Katie said her voice sharp and cutting.

"It'll be honour my lady." Aaron said, before teleporting away mid-way to prepare the squad of Sentinels that they had brought along from Fort Olympus.

"Laura, I want you to join the Scarlet Vipers on their reconnaissance mission. I need someone who I can trust completely on that team. Don't stir away from the commanders. I'm sure they will be sticking together." Katie said, as they began to climb down the stairs and entered the courtyard where the demigod who she had sent earlier stood with four Pegasi.

Katie walked forward to the chestnut Pegasi that was adorned with a golden bridle and reins, "I trust in you." She told her Pegasi before she mounted him and took the reins in her hand.

Besides her the other three demigods had mounted their Pegasi as well. With a single nod of confirmation, she broke her Pegasi into a short gallop across the expansive courtyard before she took to the air followed by her companions, who formed up on her so that they could cover their leader from all sides.

Tearing through the air and over the high towers of the city, the quad of warriors soon reached the Central Guard Tower of the city walls where they were to join the other commanders of the legion and the cohorts.

Gesturing the other three warriors to go their own ways, Katie lowered her Pegasus on the roof of the guard tower. Slipping off of her steed, with one hand on the hilt of her sword and a slight nod to the warriors on duty at the roof top, she made her way to the lower levels where her presence was being awaited.

Lowering the visor of her helmet, Maritime stood at the helm of her legion outside Vulcan's wall. Beside her stood some of the most powerful warriors that the Half-blood world would ever see.

To her right stood Alec Blackwood and James Lowell while Astria stood to her left, cackling with static electricity.

"You are cackling" said Alec under his breath.

"Am I?" asked Astria with a smile on her face, "at least I'm not emitting death rays." She said, coming back with a tongue in cheek reply.

Maritime had to bite her lip, to keep her face passive but she'd already made the first mistake. She should have smiled when she had the opportunity for only a few moments later, did the sea begin to churn.

And like the day before, the sea split into a chasm. The water from the sea rose and parted, creating a path from its dark, abyssal depths to Londinium's beach.

The remaining commanders and warriors lowered their visors and unsheathed their weapons.

The flames of war burned bright in their eyes, a blessing of Ares one might have thought but then again Ares had been exiled. No, the flame that burned within each demigod was a symbol of their mortal divinity.

As the warriors of Londinium fell into formation, contingents after contingents of enemy warriors marched towards them in perfect synchronization. Their scarlet eyes burning bright, the warriors didn't seem to hesitate one bit. They were fearless, but then they were completely oblivious of fear as an emotion.

"Archers" Maritime heard her second in command Nick Andrews shout from the city walls. His voice was loud enough, to be heard over the din of the marching enemy.

Instinctively, Maritime raised her shield to prevent herself from being skewered by a wayward arrow and she knew that all her comrades beside her were doing the exact same thing.

It was good, that she relied on her instincts for at that very moment, a torrent of arrows sailing across the sky obscured the sun. Death rained down upon the enemy as several hundred fell to the arrows launched from the bows of Londinium's yeomen.

A smile crept onto Maritime's lips. It had indeed been her idea for the archers to launch not one or two but three arrows at the same time. She had a rough idea that one in three might hit the oncoming enemy, especially if one in every three arrows was coated with Greek fire explosives which on making contact with any surface exploded, burning the surface to ash.

As she had planned and predicted, the enemy was either already down or was charred to death. Those that had miraculously survived were being picked out one at a time by the long distance archers that were positioned on the high towers that lined the wall.

"When do we join the fight?" asked Astria, current running through her body.

"Not yet." Maritime said in a calm voice, long deep breaths aiding her to maintain her sense of calm.

"I suggest that we use lightening to block the exit from the water chasm." Astria said, putting much weight behind her words.

Maritime contemplated but before she could give her decision Alec voted in support, "I think that's a brilliant idea. That way we'd have fewer warriors to deal with." The Dealer of Death piped in.

James too nodded in confirmation.

Maritime sighed, before she gave the go ahead.

With a smile on her face, Astria walked forwards and raised her sword to the sky.

Power began to pulse through her body. Raw manic energy began to dissipate from her in the form of lightening.

The Londinium forces stepped back in order to prevent themselves from getting electrocuted.

"I'm having second thoughts now." said James, his voice lined with uncertainty.

Maritime didn't think twice. She knew the risks but she also knew that the idea was indeed brilliant.

"There's nothing to be worried about." said Maritime, trying to diffuse the tension that was beginning to set in among the warriors as well.

Astria however, continued to draw on her power. She felt the main energy coursing through her veins. The power of Zeus was calling out to her. The energy seemed to increase manifolds with every passing moment and as much as she gave herself over to it the more she felt drawn towards opening herself to it.

It wasn't long before she could taste the charge in the air, she could literally smell the static and the burning of ozone and the scent of free ions coursing around her. The atmosphere was changing drastically and she was at the heart of it.

She rose a few feet from the ground and it was then that she let lose her wrath on the enemy.

Giant, continuous bolts of lightning struck the gaping chasm in the middle of the sea from the stormy skies above. The sound of thunder ricocheted across the four corners of Londinium and athwart the North Sea.

It wasn't long when the stench of burning and charred flesh hit the nostrils of those standing resolute on Londinium's beach and its city walls.

The warriors Cheered and thumped their shields with their swords for it seemed the battle was over but the war was yet to come.

Jenn Ambers, second in command of the Scarlet Vipers sped on her Hippocampus through the tumultuous sea towards the enemy's ships. Alongside her rode the commander of their cohort, Kale Elmwood, Son of Poseidon and just behind her rode Laura Lacour, the best hunter there was in Sentinels' garrison.

Jenn was still unsure as to why Laura had joined them but she'd never question a direct order from a Councillor, especially if that councillor was 'supposedly' the last.

Jenn mentally scolded herself. Now was not the time to think about Council politics. Their main priority as of now was to determine the enemy's strength accurately and if possible make a huge dent in their ranks.

They weren't sure if they could do the former but they had enough Greek fire explosives to carry out the latter of their plan.

It was up to her and rest of the cohort to setup the explosives while Kale went aboard one of the ships with Laura to dig more information on the enemy. An enemy, they seemed to know nothing about.

Hot on Kale's trail the cohort soon entered an oceanic current which led them straight below the hulls of the enemy ships.

Here on, Jenn knew what to do.

She guided her Hippocampus to the bottom of the ship and set up the explosives on the underside of the goliath vessel. Still a few minutes to go on her deadline, she sent a telepathic signal through her Hippocampus to the other members of the cohort who were tasked with setting up explosives on the other ships.

"_We need to get out now"_ she sent across to them.

"_Are we to leave the commander?" _asked one of the youngest warriors who had recently joined the cohort.

"_We are following the Commander's orders. It was our job to fix the bombs and leave as soon as possible. Now, stop arguing. You have less than a minute."_ She said before she cut off the telepathic link and began to swim towards the shore.

It wasn't long before she was joined by the rest of the cohort and soon it was only Kale who had not joined them.

Jenn slowed her steed, letting other members of her cohort proceed without her in lead while she brought up the rear.

She was working off a strict timeline and if Kale didn't find them soon enough then he too would be joining his father at the bottom of the ocean very soon. Dead or alive, that she truly didn't know.

Tzefira Landen was having a hard time to calm her Pegasus. Not only her Pegasus, she was having a hard time to keep all the warriors on the Pegasi calm.

It had been a perfectly clear day, when out of nowhere the weather changed drastically, storm clouds brewed out of nothing. They swirled over the island city of Londinium bringing along with them gale force winds which made it difficult for them to hover in one place.

They now had to constantly circle the island, that too in the direction of the wind so that the Pegasi felt minimum exertion.

Being a daughter of Aeolus, Tzefira knew that this wasn't just any storm. It was a full-fledged force storm. Someone was trying to show off their power and was putting up a real good display. The only downside was that it left Londinium's air defence in tatters making it extremely difficult for them to protect the city.

Tzefira silently cursed the daughter of Zeus. She knew only she had the power to cast such storms. She and the daughter of Poseidon but she also knew that this was Zeus' daughter showing her supremacy over the rest.

How right James had been, she thought to herself.

"Commander Landen, we need to move to a lower altitude. The thunder is unsettling the Pegasi." said Noah Ellis from beside her.

Noah was another quarter guard and like her had been assigned to commandeer the air defence.

"Take the plunge, I'll follow your lead." shouted back Tzefira.

Acknowledging her command, Noah pulled the reigns of his Pegasi and began to fly to a lower altitude. Clicking her tongue, Tzefira mimicked his motions and soon fell in wing beside him.

This was going to be a long day, she thought to herself while the Pegasi warriors waited for their cue and it wasn't long before they saw a series of explosions rocking the enemy ships through and through.

Pulling at her Pegasus' reigns she flew him towards the smoke billowing, half destroyed ships. Following her were another hundred warriors carrying carriers for ground battle.

Pitch black smoke billowed out of the ships, making it difficult for them to see the deck but nevertheless they made the drop of warriors and killed all enemy in sight with their arrows, picking them off one by one. It was when an arrow narrowly missed her head did she realise that it would be an amazing feat is she survived through this long day.

Connor Stoll stood at the top of the highest tower of Fort Olympus, his cloak billowing wildly in in the wind and his eyes set in the North East direction.

"You called for me Master Stoll?" asked Talen Berraz, Son of Zeus from behind him, his voice reverent in the presence of the last elder.

"Have we received word from Londinium yet?" asked Connor in low voice.

"There hasn't been any word, yet." Talen said impassively.

Connor nodded before raising his hand to dismiss the young warrior from his presence.

Averting his gaze from the horizon he trained his gaze towards the meadow where over a thousand warriors were being trained in combat. Some of them had recently turned thirteen and were being given lessons in hand to hand combat and short-range arms fighting.

Connor sighed; these warriors had a lot to learn. The sad thing was that they simply didn't have the time.

**A/N: Thanks to those who reviewed earlier. Special mention to wacko12 who promotes Chaos and for inspiring me to write about Cain and Elijah.**

**Review guys. **


	11. Prince of Darkness

**Prince of Darkness**

A large shadow loomed over the decimated city of Nova Roma, home to the demigods of Roman descent.

The city lay in ruins. Smoke and ash covered every surface of the city built of marble, under a dark and terrifying sky. The dark clouds swirled to create a tomb for what was once a city of all times. The grey clouds arched in all four directions to herald the destruction of Jupiter's city.

To anyone on the outside it'd have been disheartening to see the city of splendour and wealth turn to ash right before their eyes. Maybe there was a god, for the people of the city didn't live long to see its destruction.

Buried beneath tons of debris and stone were thousands of lifeless bodies, each with the name of a god on their lips. Surprisingly, none of them came to protect their people. They left them defenceless for they knew they couldn't match the wrath of the enemy that had descended upon the legacy city.

Amidst the remnants of burning fires and billowing smoke walked a figure clad in white.

His steel grey armour reflected the burning pyres of the dead that surrounded him and his cerulean eyes aflame with victory.

"And this is how it ends." came the words from his mouth, "For whom might I be, if not he who is like God." And at that very moment golden wings appeared on his back and in harsh-blinding flash of light the figure disappeared to join his father.

Yes, he had done the work he had been assigned. He had destroyed another of Olympus' strongholds.

* * *

Like a bullet through air, Tzefira cut through the wind stabbing her enemy square in the chest. It wasn't the charge but the withdrawal of weapon from the body that was faster and not to mention gory as she tore the sword through his body while taking it out.

She swirled it around to chop of the head of another enemy warrior.

Caked in blood, she screamed as she charged through the enemy warriors chopping off heads and limbs as she got through them. Riding on the power of the wind, she used it as her weapon to not only shield herself but also to kill.

As she ran her sword through another enemy warrior another painful scream left her lips drawing towards her several of the dark warriors.

Mourning the loss of her lost Pegasus, Tzefira did the only thing that took her mind off the pain of her loss. She continued to avenge the death of her Pegasus by killing as many of the enemy as she could. It was no longer an honour bound duty for her but a personal vendetta where she needed to settle scores with whoever was running the show from behind.

Growling she tore her sword through the enemy to meet the next one head on.

She didn't care that she was covered in blood or that she had even killed some of her own warriors and comrades in the process. All she cared about was vengeance. She wanted it, craved it and yearned for it.

Holding her sword with both hands she stood her ground as the enemy approached her. Her eyes shone with a luminescence as she charged at them. Her body gave shockwaves as she ran through each enemy.

She was losing control and fast. On the brink of insanity, it seemed she was more close to divinity than anything else.

* * *

Back to back and sword to shield Maritime and Alex fought off the incoming horde of enemy warriors. Slashing and hacking, the bodies around them continue to pile up and if they continued to fight like this they'd soon be buried under the dead weight of their enemies but there was little they could do for they had to protect the gates of Vulcan's wall.

Vulcan's wall was their primary defence. If Vulcan's wall fell so would the city walls and from there on, like a palace of cards so would the entire city.

As Maritime cut off the head of another enemy soldier, she called to the sea to raise a wall of water that shielded them from other impending hordes. This also meant that she had been able to buy them time and time was of essence right now.

"Alec" she shouted to catch the attention of her fellow commander.

Alec didn't turn to see her but Maritime knew she had his attention, "What are we to do? They just wouldn't stop coming?" she shouted over the clashes of metal against metal and the din of the battle field.

"I guess you know what to do." He said, cutting off the head of an enemy warrior and subsequently drenching himself in his enemy's blood.

Blocking a straight plunge by one of the enemy warriors using nothing but her sword Maritime rebuked, "I'd really appreciate if you could hold these few off while I concentrate." And with those few words she ran her sword through the warrior who had almost impaled her while Alec took on the remaining warriors to buy time for Maritime.

Resting her trust in Alec, Maritime closed her eyes and retreated back to the safe haven that she had created for herself during the initial years of her training. This haven was the only place in her mind which was devoid of her bloodied life.

Once there, she called out to the power of the sea to use her as a vessel. She gave herself over to the sea, to the calm waters that raged across the beach front.

She felt the power of the sea trickle into her. Slow and steady, the power grew and Maritime willingly embraced her new found power, power which until now she wasn't aware of.

As the power of the sea swelled inside her so did Maritime.

An instant rush of adrenaline flowed through her body bringing her out of her mental safe haven and back to her war-torn reality. A war which she now had a chance to win but unfortunately she wouldn't win it as Maritime.

Radiating power through and through, Maritime's mortal human skin burned off her body to reveal a metallic exoskeleton that covered her body like skin. Shining like metal the skin seemed to have been moulded over her body with her eyes shining with an aqua-blue gleam.

"You look beautiful." Alec said, wiping away blood away from his face. His obsidian coloured eyes gleamed with manic energy and it wasn't long after that a haze of shadows from the battlefield crawled their way towards him.

The shadows snaked up his body, engulfing him in their darkness. Soon a cocoon of darkness formed around him. A cocoon that was broken into shards as a dark figure with pitch black eyes appeared from within it.

Black diamond dust littered the floor around Alec, whose obsidian exoskeleton seemed nearly as indestructible as Maritime's.

"That's sick" said Maritime looking disgusted, well as disgusted as her metallic features allowed her to.

A tight smile came over his face, "you still look beautiful."

Mari snorted, "I know. Now let's take these gumbos out."

"Ladies first." He said with a slight bow and before he realised it Maritime was of, throwing enemy warriors into the air as she tore through their ranks. Alec followed close by, killing all those she didn't get her hands on.

With bare hands Maritime gouged out the enemy's eyes, ripping through their throats, tearing their chests apart and splitting their internals wide open. All of this with bare hands, her weapons long forgotten.

Together Alec and Maritime ploughed through the enemy ranks and left behind a sea of dead bodies and crimson sands.

* * *

James Steele wasn't team player and here he was stuck with warriors from his cohort, trying to hold the door that led through Vulcan's wall and to the City walls.

He was a defensive warrior, choosing to shield himself from an attack rather than parry it. He waited for an opportune moment to strike and when he found one he didn't waste a moment to slay his enemy.

Parrying an attack that his enemy had gotten too carried away with, leaving him open on the left side. James jumped and plunged his sword through the dark warrior's neck, splitting it in half and laying a fine warrior to waste.

Things had begun to slow for his cohort who had been tasked to protect the entrance. Very few warriors were now coming through the forward lines.

Had the enemy forces been weakened? Had the demigods prevailed? Several such questions came to his mind as he slashed through another warrior; the last one perhaps for there weren't any others coming their way. His comrades had taken down several other warriors in the few seconds before and the next few that were coming in were so few that they were being taken out by the archers on the high towers one by one.

There was a good probability that none of them would reach the entrance or the walls as they had been pushed back far away.

Nevertheless he kept a keen eye on the forward lines where he could distantly make out the demigod forces fighting the enemy ranks but what he found odd was how the enemy numbers had lessened in the past few minutes.

What could be the reason? He asked himself and soon his curiosity got the better of him.

"Noah" he called out to the second in command of the masked messiah.

The Son of Hermes turned away from one of his injured men to face the Death Dealer.

"I'm going up ahead to check on the front line and Alec. I'll be back in a few. Care to hold the fort without me?" James asked, sheathing his sword.

Noah nodded, "Yea sure, May the Gods be with you." He said, before returning his attention to the injured demigod.

James nodded and began to run to the front lines. Summoning the power from his divine core, he ran to the front line on the wind. Like a haze he tore down a warrior that was about to attack a comrade from behind.

He cursed himself.

It wasn't his curiosity that brought him to the front lines it was the thrill of battle, the yearning to continue fighting but it seemed that the numbers and ally to enemy ratio on the front lines too was even. There wasn't much for him to do, nothing to satiate his thirst for battle.

But it seemed that the enemy had somehow disappeared.

* * *

**A/N: its short I know but I just had to get something up. Well, it's my BIRTHDAY. Didn't get reviews for the last chapter. I hope I get loads of feedback this time around guys. That's be the best thing I can get for this one. This chapter will be further updated, its incomplete.  
**


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